COLUMBIA  LIBRARIES  OFFSITE 

AVERY  FINE  ARTS  RESTRICTED 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  hook 

Because  it  has  heen  said 
"Ever'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  hook." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/whysafedepositcoOOsafe 


WHY 


The  Safe  Deposit  Co. 
of  New  York, 

KO.  146  BROADWAY, 

Corner  Liberty  Street, 

IS  A 

PUBLIC  NECESSITY. 

THE  FIRST  ESTABLISHED  IN  THE  AYORLD. 
CHARTERED  1861. 

INTERESTING    TO    ALL    HAVING    SECURITIES,    FAMILY  PLATE, 
JEWELRY,    OR    VALUABLE  PAPERS. 


READ  AND  INFORM  OTHERS. 


Eatered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  vear  of  our  Lord  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred  and 

Sixty-eight,  by 

FRANCIS  H.  JENKS, 

In  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of  Xew  York. 


OFFICE  OF 

THE  SAFE  DEPOSIT  CO.  OF  N.  Y., 
14G  Broadway, 

Cor.  Liberty  Street, 

The  Safe  Deposit  Co.  of  ISTew  York,  chartered 
April,  1861,  was,  when  it  went  into  operation,  the 
FIRST  AND  ONLY  Incorporated  Institution  in  the  world 
OF  its  kind. 

Its  increase  of  business  has  been  all  that  could 
reasonably  have  been  expected  for  the  development  of 
a  new  idea,  involving  in  its  working,  interests  of  such 
importance  to  each  of  its  patrons. 

That  its  usefulness  and  security  is  appreciated  by 
the  community  is  demonstrated  by  the  business  it  is 
doing,  both  in  its  extent  and  the  character  of  those 
from  and  through  whom  it  conies.  The  public  has 
given  it  their  generous  confidence ;  and  it  has  been 
largely  indebted  to  all  the  Banks  and  the  other 
moneyed  Corporations  of  this  city  for  much  of  its 
business  through  their  kind  recommendation ;  while 
it  has  been  to  the  Company  an  approving  endorsement 
of  their  efforts,  that  so  large  a  portion  of  its  new  busi- 
ness is  found  to  come  from  its  favorable  mention, 
and  often  its  earnest  recommendation  by  its  Dealers. 
Their  universal  expression  of  satisfaction  with  our 
arrangements  and  the  conduct  of  our  business,  and 
their  frequent  expressions  of  grateful  appreciation  of 
the  comfort  and  security  they  have  enjoyed  in  the  use 


4 


of  the  facilities  we  offer,  have  been  not  the  least 
among  the  compensations  to  those  who  took  the  risk 
of  starting  the  untried  enterprise. 

1^0  expense  has  been  or  will  be  spared  to  secure 
perfection  in  safety  and  the  utmost  convenience  to 
its  patrons.  The  cost  of  its  fixtures  has  been  large, 
and  the  great  current  expenses  of  the  Company,  from 
the  nature  of  its  business,  are  larger  in  proportion  to 
receipts  than  those  of  any  other  financial  corporation. 
All  these  render  necessary  a  very  considerable  increase 
of  the  business  of  the  Company,  if  its  present  exceed- 
ingly low  rates  are  to  be  continued,  in  order  to  assure 
to  its  Stockholders  a  reliable  and  fairly  remunera- 
tive return  for  the  risk  of  their  investment,  and  for 
their  further  personal  liability  as  Stockholders,  in  what 
was,  at  the  time  of  their  subscription,  an  experiment. 

To  realize  the  results  the  acknowledged  merits  of 
the  Institution  seem  to  justify,  and  which  its  expenses 
demand,  the  public  have  to  be  educated  to  its  use, 
by  placing  and  keeping  before  them  the  risks  of  the 
present  customary  mode  of  keeping  Securities,  Plate, 
Jewelry,  and  the  various  valuable  Papers  and  Articles, 
for  the  safe-keeping  of  which  the  Company  was  organ- 
ized. 

With  that  view  we  issue  this  sketch  of  the  Reasons 
Why  this  Company,  now  become  an  Institution  of  the 
country,  and  being  imitated  in  other  cities  in  America 
and  Europe,  is  a  Public  E'ecessity. 

And  the  Company  respectfully  solicits  of  its  friends 
and  the  readers  of  this  pamphlet  their  aid  in  dissemi- 
nating the  information  and  suggestions  it  contains. 


REASONS  WHY  THIS  COMPANY  IS  A 
PUBLIC  NECESSITY. 


In  Case  of  Loss  of  Government  Coupon  Bonds. 

It  has  been  settled  by  legal  decisions,  that  the 
innocent  holder  of  a  Government  Coupon  Bond,  or 
other  such  Security,  has  a  good  title  to  it,  though  it 
may  have  been  lost  or  stolen  from  a  former  owner 
and  advertised  by  him.  Before  the  title  of  a  present 
holder  to  a  Coupon  Bond  can  be  made  invalid,  it  must 
be  proven  that  when  he  took  it  he  knew  it  to  have  been 
lost  or  stolen,  or  that  he  had  reason  to  presume  that 
the  party  through  whom  it  came  had  no  right  to  con- 
vey a  title  to  it.  The  importance,  therefore,  of  a 
Place  of  Absolute  Safety  for  all  such  Securities, 
is  obvious. 

Attention  is  invited  to  the  following : 

Treasury  Department,  April  27,  1867. 

In  consequence  of  the  increasing  trouble,  wholly 
without  practical  benefit,  arising  from  notices  w^hich 
are  constantly  received  at  the  Department,  respecting 
the  loss  of  Coupon  Bonds  which  are  payable  to  the 
bearer,  and  of  Treasury  i^otes  issued  and  remaining  in 
blank  at  the  time  of  loss,  it  becomes  necessary  to  give 
the  public  notice : 

That  the  Government  cannot  protect,  and  will  not 
undertake  to  protect,  the  owners  of  such  Bonds  and 


6 


Notes  against  the  consequences  of  their  own  fault  or 
misfortune.  Hereafter  all  Bonds,  ITotes,  and  Coupons, 
payable  to  bearer,  ^nd  Treasury  Notes  issued  and  re- 
maining in  blank,  will  be  paid  to  the  party  presenting 
them,  in  pursuance  of  the  regulations  of  the  Depart- 
ment, in  the  course  of  regular  business,  and  no  atten- 
tion will  be  paid  to  caveats  which  may  be  tiled  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  such  payments. 

(Signed,)  H.  McCULLOCH, 

Secretary. 

Leaving  Tin  Boxes  &c.,  at  Banks. 

Those  who  leave  at  their  Bank  their  Securities  in 
Tin  Boxes,  and  much  more,  open,  or  merely  in  En- 
velopes, with  the  Cashier  or  the  Teller,  know  that  they 
are  taken  with  reluctance,  that  the  service  is  looked 
upon  not  only  as  altogether  gratuitous,  but  onerous 
and  outside  of  the  legitimate  business  of  the  Bank, 
and  that  it  is  done  only  through  a  desire  not  to  give 
offence  by  a  refusal,  and  they  are  told,  when  they  leave 
them,  that  the  Bank  will  not  be  responsible  for  them. 

The  establishment  of  this  institution  possessing,  as 
it  evidently  does,  the  confidence  of  the  community, 
leaves  no  excuse  for  thus  forcing  an  unwilling  and 
profitless  service  upon  the  oflicers  as  well  as  the  Stock- 
holders of  the  Banks,  apart  from  any  consideration  of 
the  relative  security  of  the  two  methods. 

Boxes  left  at  the  Banks  are  in  charge  simply  of  the 
Porter.  They  are  not  put  in  the  same  place  of  security, 
nor  in  a  place  of  equal  security  Avith  those  of  the  Bank, 


7 


and  as  a  general  custom  the  vault  in  which  the  Boxes 
are  i)ut  is  open  and  accessible  to  every  and  any  em- 
ploye of  the  Bank  daring  business  hours,  and  gener- 
ally to  Depositors  of  the  Boxes  also,  who  in  designating 
within  the  vault  which  one  belongs  to  them  have  the 
op])ortunity  of  taking  any  other  in  place  of  their  own. 

The  vault  of  the  Bank  is  kept  open  after  business 
hours  and  consequently  after  tlie  officers  and  clerks 
have  left,  perhaps  for  the  accommodation  of  some 
clerk  unavoidably  behindhand  in  his  writing,  or  of 
some  Dealer  who  is  late  with  his  Box, — as  the  Porter 
gets  from  the  latter  an  annual  fee  for  his  trouble. 
Meanwhile  the  vault,  full  of  Tin  Boxes,  is  in  exclusive 
charge  of  the  Porter,  and  subject  also  to  all  the  con- 
tingencies of  a  concerted  attack  of  desperadoes  which 
the  circumstances  invite.  The  lock  on  a  Tin  Box  is  of 
course  no  security  at  all. 

Contrast  this  mode  of  Safe-Keeping  with  the  security 
offered  by  this  Company,  through  every  guard  and 
check  that  the  most  solicitous  caution  has  thus  far 
devised,  and-  the  purpose  to  adopt  without  regard  to 
expense,  every  further  security  that  observation  and 
experience  may  hereafter  suggest, — and  the  advan- 
tages this  Compan}'  offers  will  be  the  more  apparent. 

One  of  our  most  eminent  lawyers  remarked  at  the 
time  this  Company  was  organizing,  that  in  defending 
a  suit  against  a  Bank  here  for  the  loss  of  a  Box  left 
with  it,  he  had  been  astounded  to  learn  with  what 
reckless  carelessness  on  the  part  of  their  owners,  so 
vast  an  amount  of  property  was  handled  as  the  Boxes 
thus  left  with  the  Banks  involved.    This  is  still  con- 


8 


tinued  by  so  many  doubtless  from  their  being  habit- 
uated to  this  mode,  and  from  a  want  of  knowledge  of 
and  reflection  upon  the  risks  run,  and  of  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  disastrous  results  to  its  owner  should  he 
lose  his  Box. 

A  gentleman  read  before  starting  from  his  home  in 
Brooklyn  the  newspaper  account  of  the  robbery  of  a 
Box  containing  a  very  large  amount  of  Securities  from 
the  Bank  in  which  his  own  Box  was  kept.  He  said 
that  no  consideration  could  induce  him  to  risk  again 
passing  through  all  his  anxiety  till  he  could  cross  the 
ferry,  and  know  to  a  certainty  whether  his  own  Box 
was  still  safe.  He  got  it  from  the  Bank  vault,  and 
forthwith  took  a  Safe  with  this  Company. 

Another  gentleman  says  he  bad  for  some  time 
intended  at  a  convenient  season  to  call  in  and  see  for 
himself  whether  he  had  not  better  follow  the  advice 
of  friends,  and  take  a  Safe  with  this  Company,  but 
the  time  never  came  when  he  could  readily  call  in  ^'just 
then.''  On  going  to  his  Bank  for  his  Box  he  found  the 
Porter  handing  out  in  succession  half  a  dozen  Boxes 
to  a  clerk  of  one  of  its  Dealers  for  his  recognition, 
till  at  last  the  clerk  took  the  seventh  Box.  He  said 
lie  thought  it  now  time  he  should  make  it  convenient 
to  call  and  see  what  better  security  this  Company 
could  oflfer,  and  so  took  his  Box  in  turn  and  came 
^'straight"  to  our  Vaults,  and  forthwith  rented  a  Safe 
therein, — securely  locked  with  his  own  key,  inaccessi- 
ble to  any  one  but  himself,  and  to  himself  accessible  at 
all  times  of  the  day  between  9  and  4  o'clock, — thus 
giving  an  hour  before  the  Banks  open  and  an  hour 


9 

after  the  Banks  close, — and  accessible  as  many  times 
during  those  hours  as  he  pleases,  without  any 
apologies. 

Here  lie  feels  that  he  is  enjoying  a  n^^^A^  that  has  been 
paid  for  and  belongs  to  hwi,  and  not  a  mere  courtesy  that 
has  been  neccessarily  reluctantly  accorded  him ; — here  he 
is  considered  a  desirable  patron,  and  not  as  in  the  other 
case  an  unavoidable  nuisance; — here  the  deposit  of  his 
Box  is  sought  as  a  business,  and  consequently  as  a  busi- 
ness cared  for,  rather  than,  as  in  the  other  case,  taken 
on  virtual  compulsion,  with  perhaps  the  secret  and 
natural  feeling  that  the  less  care  shown  to  be  taken  of 
it,  the  less  likely  will  he  be  to  continue  to  annoy  the 
Bank  with  the  unwelcome  burthen.  Here  he  secures  for 
himself  a  place  where  convenient,  separate  desks  are 
provided,  each  secluded  from  all  others,  and  where  he 
may  overhaul  the  contents  of  his  Box  at  leisure,  in 
perfect  privacy,  and  carefully  fenced  off  from  any  in- 
trusion, with  those  only  about  him,  who  like  himself 
have  been  admitted  as  Renters  only  on  personal, 
responsible  introduction,  and  m  entire  security  from 
thief,  pickpocket,  grabber,  slung-shot  or  other  device — 
and  without  feeling  that  he  is  either  out  of  place  or 
''in  the  way"  of  anybody.  Here,  too,  if  through 
absent-mindedness,  he  should  chance  to  leave  any  of 
his  Securities  upon  the  desk,  all  the  chances  are  in 
favor  of  their  being  returned  to  him  ;  watchfulness  for 
the  inadvertence  of  the  Eenters  themselves  bemo:  a 
part  of  the  Police  of  the  office. 

By  this  provision  of  Desks  on  the  spot  for  Renters, 
are  avoided  all  the  risks  of  taking  the  Box  from  the 


10 


premises,  as  well  from  the  messenger  employed  to  carry 
the  Box  through  the  streets,  as  from  his  assault  by 
highway  robbers,  of  which  we  have  recently  had  so 
many  warning  instances.  In  a  recent  robbery  of  some 
millions,  the  messenger  of  one  of  our  City  Banks  on  his 
way  to  the  Clearing  House  with  his  valise  of  checks 
etc.,  was  attacked  and  robbed  at  noon  in  Wall  street. 

In  another  recent  case,  the  messenger  of  a  wealthy 
mercantile  firm  was  waylaid  as  he  was  carrying  their 
Tin  Box  to  their  counting  room  on  the  second  floor; 
at  the  street  entrance  he  was  seized  and  held  by 
three  men  concealed  behind  the  door  who  threw  red 
pepper  in  his  eyes,  and  tried  to  wrench  his  Box  from 
him. 

Among  other  cases  illustrating  the  insecurity  of 
leaving  Boxes  in  Bank  vaults,  a  gentleman  took  home 
from  his  Bank  a  Box  he  supposed  his  own,  and  finding 
his  mistake  on  opening  it,  took  it  back  to  the  Bank 
and  exchanging  it  for  his  own  hastened  in  anxiety  to 
the  owner  of  the  Box  he  had  taken,  and  requested 
him  to  go  at  once  with  him  to  examine  the  Box,  to  be 
assured  that  nothing  had  been  taken  therefrom  by  him. 
He  then  learned  there  was  in  the  Box  over  a  million 
in  value,  the  larger  portion  in  Coupon  Bonds. 

An  illustration  of  the  justifiable,  and  indeed  un- 
avoidable feeling  of  Bank  Officers  in  the  matter  of 
Boxes  thus  left  in  their  vaults,  is  impressivel}^  shown 
in  the  following  instance.  A  well-dressed  thief  hung 
about  the  front  of  one  of  our  leading  Banks  near  the 
close  of  its  business  hours,  watching  prey,  till  seeing  a 
lad  enter  the  Bank  with  a  Tin  Box  bearing  the  name 


11 


of  a  well-known  wealthy  Banking-house,  he  followed 
him  in,  passing  behind  the  lad  through  the  counter-gate, 
and  along  behind  the  counter,  back  of  several  clerks 
and  Ji  teller  or  two,  to  the  place  near  the  vault  where 
the  lad  left  the  Box  on  the  floor  to  await,  as  is  usual, 
the  convenience  of  the  Porter  to  place  it  in  the  vault. 
The  thief  stood  aside  till  the  lad  had  gone  a  few  steps 
on  his  return,  when  he  coolly  took  up  the  Box,  and 
retraced  his  steps  to  the  street  with  his  booty,  several 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  value.  An  Oflicer  of 
the  Bank  in  answer  to  a  question  "  Did  3'ou  notice 
the  man  as  he  passed  you?"  replied,  "^^o;  I  was 
busily  occupied  with  ni}'  own  business,  and  if  I  had 
seen  him  I  should  have  had  nothing  to  say  to  him; 
it  is  not  one  of  my  duties.  If  folks  will  leave  their 
Boxes  here  when  Ave  tell  them  we  will  take  no  respon- 
sibility in  regard  to  them,  they  must  look  after  them 
themselves  ;  we  can't ;  they  must  take  their  chances. 
What  would  our  Directors  say  to  me,  if,  through  chal- 
lenging messengers  bringing  and  taking  Boxes,  I 
should  commit  some  error  in  my  duties,  and  damage 
the  Bank?  They  would  tell  me  they  paid  me  to  attend 
to  the  business  of  the  Bank,  not  to  look  after  people's 
Tin  Boxes." 

To  those  who  leave  their  Securities  with  Country 
Banks  or  Bankers,  the  danger  is  greatly  increased, 
from  the  very  much  greater  risk  there  of  robbery  of 
the  Bank  Vault  or  Safe  ;  as  instanced  in  the  man}^ 
newspaper  accounts  of  recent  Bank  Robberies  in  vari- 
ous ways,  even  to  tying  and  gagging  the  Cashier,  or 
locking  him  up  in  his  own  Safe,  or  rousing  him  from 


12 


sleep  at  midnight  with  a  pistol  at  his  head  to  enforce 
the  demand  that  he  proceed  forthwith  noiselessly  to 
the  Banking  Room  and  open  its  Vaults  to  them  ;  or 
even  to  killing  him  on  the  spot  in  broad  daylight 
while  at  his  desk  in  the  Bank.  It  would  not  be  agree- 
able to  parties  in  interest  to  have  their  misfortunes  in 
losing  Boxes  from  Banks,  raked  up  and  paraded  anew 
before  the  public  for  the  benefit  of  this  Company,  but 
let  any  one  interested  in  a  Box  thus  left  with  a  Bank 
inquire  somewhat  into  the  statistics  of  Boxes  thus  lost 
and  if  his  nerves  are  not  somewhat  shaken  till  he 
provides  himself  hetler  security,  he  must  be  less  cautious 
in  his  aflairs  than  his  possession  of  anything  worth 
safe  keeping  would  seem  to  indicate. 

As  to  Securities  Open  or   Sealed  up  left  with 
Cashiers  and  Tellers  of  Banks. 

The  risk  is  less  than  on  those  left  in  the  Vault  in  Tin 
Boxes  as  above  referred  to  :  but  even  this  mode  is  not 
without  its  risk,  as  all  Bank  Officers  assure  those  so 
leaving  securities  with  them,  while  they  also  warn 
them  that  the  Bank  takes  no  responsibility  in  regard 
to  them. 

This  insecurity  was  strikingly  illustrated  with  one 
of  our  leading  Banks.  A  large  amount  of  Bonds 
had  been  left  for  safe-keeping  with  the  Cashier,  and 
was  in  this  case  put  in  the  Tin  Box  appropriated  b}^ 
the  Bank  to  its  own  Securities ;  the  Box  was  taken 
from  its  place  in  the  inner  Vault  or  Safe  and  placed 
upon  the  Cashier's  desk,  and  there  opened  for  refer- 
ence ;  this  package  of  its  Dealer's  Bonds  happened  to 


13 


lie  at  the  top  of  the  contents;  was  seen  tliere  when  the 
Box  was  opened,  and  while  tlie  Box  remained  open  was 
suddenly  missed,  and  has  not  been  heard  of  since.  It 
was  doubtless  taken  by  some  professional  "grabber." 

There  is  a  risk  attending  leaving  one's  Securities  at 
a  Bank,  either  in  a  Tin  Box  in  its  Vault,  or  with  a 
Cashier  or  Teller,  open  or  sealed,  or  in  leaving  Silver 
Plate  with  a  Bank,  which  probably  has  not  occurred 
to  all  who  are  in  the  practice.  A  suit  against  a 
Bank  in  this  city  has  long  been  pending  to  recover 
the  value  of  the  contents  of  a  Tin  Box  left  with 
it  in  the  usual  way,  which  was  delivered  in  good 
faith  upon  a  Forged  Order.  Who  of  all  who  thus 
leave  their  Tin  Boxes  or  Securities  with  Banks  is  ex- 
empt from  the  possibility  of  such  a  mishap,  and  to 
how  many  of  those  would  such  an  occurrence  be  abso- 
lute ruin.  This  Company  recognizes  no  orders  re- 
ceived through  or  by  a  second  person.  It  is  against 
our  rules ;  such  an  occurrence  could  not  take  place 
with  this  Company. 

In  a  suit  at  Boston  by  a  Mercantile  House  there, 
whose  correspondents  here  had  left  in  the  usual  way 
in  a  Kew  York  Bank  with  which  they  kept  their 
account,  their  Tin  Box  containing  a  large  amount  be- 
longing to  the  Boston  firm,  Avhich  Box  was  stolen  from 
that  Bank,  it  has  been  recently  decided  that  the  Bank 
was  not  responsible. 

The  Controller  of  the  Treasury  in  reply  to  inquiries 
from  Baltimore  Banks,  has  issued  his  opinion  that 
National  Banks  jeopard  their  charters  and  may  seri- 
ously compromise  their  Stockholders  by  allowing 


14 


Securdties  to  be  left  at  tlie  Banks,  either  in  Tin  Boxes 
as  usual,  or  Open,  or  in  Envelopes,  with  an}-  of  their 
Officers. 

Family  Plate 

Is  a  bulky  thing  to  burthen  a  Bank  with.  The 
recent  agitation  of  the  subject  of  such  deposits  in  con- 
sequence of  the  establishment  of  this  Company  in- 
duced a  Bank  in  Boston,  to  overhaul  their  own  deposits 
of  this  character ;  they  found  a  Box  of  Plate  that  had 
laid  there  some  thirty  or  forty  years,  its  w^hereabouts  or 
even  existence  unknown  to  its  owners,  who  had  depos- 
ited it  there  through  a  friend  in  view  of  a  temporary 
residence  abroad;  there  being  no  record  of  its  deposit. 

A  Trunk  of  Silver  Plate  left  with  one  of  the  Banks 
in  this  city  was  found  on  its  delivery  to  have  been 
emptied  of  its  contents  by  the  bottom  of  the  trunk 
being  forced  open  and  then  replaced.  !N"o  clue  to  the 
thief  could  ever  be  obtained. 

The  question  naturalh^  suggests  itself,  is  it  quite 
"  the  thing"  thus  unnecessarily  to  impose  upon  the 
kindness  of  a  Bank  Officer  with  responsibilities  and 
harassments  enough  ]3ertaining  to  his  legitimate  duties, 
gratuitous  care  such  as  may  in  certain  and  various 
contingencies  not  only  place  him  in  very  embarrassing 
circumstances,  but  even  jeopard  his  character  as  well 
as  his  position  ? 

Plate  left  with  a  Jeweler 

For  gratuitous  safe  keeping  is  of  course  understood 
to  be  wholly  at  the  owner's  risk  as  to  Fire,  Theft, 


15 


Forged  Orders,  etc. ;  nor  is  it  expected  to  be  in  any 
Safe  or  Yanlt,  but  like  other  merchandise,  in  the  store 
or  cellar. 

Where  Family  Plate  is  valued  as  an  Heir  Loom,  its 
security  is  not  a  question  of  dollars,  as  dollars  could 
not  replace  it. 

Keeping  Securities  in  Private  Safes. 

There  are  certain  objections  applicable  to  all  private 
Safes,  however  located,  as  the  depositories  for  Securi- 
ties and  Valuables. 

The  knowledge  that  you  possess  a  Safe  suggests 
valuable  contents  and  attracts  the  thief  or  burglar  and 
shows  him  where  to  look. 

No  Safe  is  absolutely  secure  against  an  expert 
burglar,  if  he  have  sufficient  time  and  opportunity, 
undiscovered.  There  has  been  a  great  advance  of  late 
years  in  the  security  of  both  Safes  and  Locks.  But 
the  advance  in  the  art  of  getting  into  them  has  fully 
kept  pace  with  their  improvement.  The  exploits  in 
England  some  years  ago,  of  Hobbs,  the  American 
lockmaker  and  picker,  waked  up  both  buyer  and  seller 
of  Safes. 

Private  Safes  are  not  under  constant,  special  watch, 
on  Sundays,  holidays,  and  at  night. 

Among  the  many  illustrations  of  this  with  which 
the  newspapers  teem,  a  case  recently  occurred  in  South 
street,  where  the  Burglars  were  prevented  getting  to 
a  large  amount  of  bonds  in  the  Counting-house  Safe  on 
Sunday,  only  by  the  unusual  visit  of  the  occupant  of 
another  office  in  the  same  building. 


16 


Even  with  the  most  careful  principals  or  employes, 
Private  Safes  are  liable  to  be  left  unlocked  though 
closed. 

No  one  can  be  always  guarded,  against  absent- 
mindedness,  pressure  of  engagements,  haste  to  catch 
a  train,  an  untimely  visitor,  etc.,  etc. 

The  modern  custom  of  many  offices  in  one  building 
and  several  occupants  in  the  same  office,  greatly 
increases  the  facilities  for  the  robbery  of  private  Safes, 
not  only  from  the  chance  that  a  dangerous  man  may 
get  an  office  or  a  desk  for  a  bad  purpose,  but  from  the 
carelessness  or  collusion  of  a  Janitor  or  his  female 
employes.  What  tenant  ever  stipulates  that  the  Jani- 
tor shall  search  his  room  after  the  street  door  is  closed  ? 
The  outer  door  of  one  of  these  buildings  was  locked 
upon  two  gentlemen,  engrossingly  engaged  till  after 
dark  in  conversation  in  one  of  these  offices,  the  Janitor 
beino^  unaware  of  their  beino:  there. 

As  the  writer  was  organizing  this  Company,  a 
prominent  lawyer  of  this  State  who  occupied  an  office 
in  one  of  these  Office  Buildings,  remarked  to  him  "If 
your  Company  had  been  established  a  few  years  earlier 
it  would  have  saved  me  the  loss  of  papers  of  over 
$50,000  in  value  to  me  and  my  family,  stolen  from 
the  Safe  in  my  office  during  my  absence  from  the 
city." 

No  better  proof  could  be  adduced  of  the  apprecia- 
tion by  business  men  of  the  advantages  this  Institution 
offers  as  a  Safe  Deposit  for  Securities  compared  with 
even  the  best  private  Safes,  than  the  fact  that  a  large 
number  of  the  leading  Insurance  Companies  of  this 


17 


city  are  among  our  Renters  and  Special  Depositors ; 
strong  Insurance  Companies  spare  no  expense  to 
procure  the  best  private  Safes  to  be  had ;  each  such 
Company  has  a  large  Board  of  Directors  of  practical 
business  men,  and  of  course  the  measure  is  thoroughly 
canvassed  at  the  Board  before  any  action  is  taken  in 
so  important  a  matter.  The  same  reasons  that  would 
determine  an  Insurance  Company  are  even  more  for- 
cibly applicable  to  individuals. 

Private  Safes  are  valuable  and  necessary  things,  and 
no  one  who  has  Books  of  Account  to  keep  should  be 
without  one  ;  indeed  if  he  asks  credit,  he  should  no 
more  receive  it  if  he  does  not  thus  insure  his  Books, 
than  if  he  does  not  insure  his  goods ;  but  clearly  they 
are  not  the  thing  in  v/hich  safely  to  keep  Government 
Bonds,  more  especially  those  negotiable  by  delivery,  or 
Gold,  Jewelry,  &q.  This  Company  has  no  disposition 
to  disparage  the  use  and  value  of  private  Safes  ;  but 
in  the  interest  of  the  public  and  itself  simply  to  point 
out  the  adaptability  of  their  use  and  the  reasons 
therefor. 

It  has  latterly  been  the  custom  to  put  Safes  in  first- 
class  Residences,  and  the  owners  of  them  have  assigned 
the  fact  of  their  possession  as  a  reason  why  they  did 
not  need  the  use  of  this  Company.  They  are  doubtless 
valuable  for  holding  Family  Plate  and  Jewelry  in 
current  use,  as  against  Fire,  one's  own  Domestics, 
"  sneak  thieves,"  and  other  lower  orders  of  robbers, 
because  while  the  family  is  at  home  that  is  the  best 
security  the  circumstances  will  allow ;  but  as  against 
the  professional  Burglar  they  are  of  little  value.  Sup- 


18 


pose  the  owner  waked  by  two  or  more  men  at  his  bed- 
side, as  have  been  several,  with  a  demand  noiselessly 
to  open  that  Safe,  enforced  by  a  pistol  at  his  head. 
The  newspapers  recently  recorded  a  robbery  at  a  pri- 
vate house  in  this  very  form  ;  after  the  robbers  had 
obtained  their  victim's  Securities  they  returned  to  his 
bed  chamber,  and  commanding  his  wnfe  to  show  her 
hands  from  under  the  bed  clothes,  took  the  very  rings 
from  her  fingers. 

How  unfit  then  for  the  Safe  Keeping  of  Government 
or  other  Bonds  is  a  Safe  so  located  ! 

It  is  not  unusual  wdth  these  robbers  when  they  find 
nothing  in  a  Safe  of  value  to  themselves,  to  destroy  in 
spite  what  therein  they  think  may  be  of  value  to  the 
owner. 

One  of  our  Renters,  residing  in  one  of  the  first- 
class  houses  up  town,  recently  called  at  our  oflftce  and 
said  that  Burglars  had  robbed  the  lower  floor  of  his 
house  and  stolen  all  his  clothes  from  his  bedside,  and 
that  the  key  of  his  Safe  in  our  Vault  was  in  his  pocket. 
He  had  bolts  on  his  chamber  door  inside;  but  presumed 
he  must  have  forgotten  to  bolt  them  on  that  night. 
Suppose  he  had  had  a  Safe  in  his  house,  being  asleep 
he  was  wholly  in  the  power  of  the  Robbers  to  com- 
pel him  to  open  it  for  them.  We  promptly  changed 
his  lock,  although  the  key  gives  no  clue  to  the  num- 
ber or  ownership  of  the  Safe,  and  under  the  require- 
ments of  the  Company,  aflfords  no  facility  of  access 
to  it. 

The  house  of  a  friend  of  his  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  city  had  also  been  recently  entered  by  Burglars, 


19 


who  took  a  few  articles,  but  some  noise  having  alarmed 
them,  they  decamped  without  awaking  the  family,  who 
found  in  the  morning  they  had  themselves  left  unlocked 
the  door  of  their  Safe. 

A  friend  inquired  some  months  since  at  our  office, 
the  rates  for  a  box  of  valuables  that  he  described.  He 
recently  informed  the  writer,  calling  to  mind  his 
inquiry,  that  he  had  not  deposited  the  Box  with  us 
because  he  purchased  at  a  low  price  at  auction  a 
superior  Burglar  Proof  Safe,  costing  new  eleven 
hundred  dollars,  which  he  had  placed  in  his  Dining 
E-oom  and  put  his  Securities,  Silver,  etc.,  in  it.  On 
going  to  the  Safe  one  morning  to  make  preparation 
for  breakfast,  .they  found  it  had  been  unlocked,  and 
all  their  Silver  and  Securities  to  a  considerable  amount 
had  been  taken.  They  or  the  maker  of  the  Safe 
could  only  account  for  the  unlocking  on  the  presump- 
tion that  the  Burglars  had  taken  an  impression  of 
the  Key  at  the  auction  and  then  ascertained  the 
buyer.  Why  may  not  this  be  done  also  at  private 
sales  ? 

If  a  Burglar  is  willing  to  take  a  Burglar's  chances  in 
the  attempt,  no  convenient  and  available  means  have 
yet  been  discovered  effectually  to  keep  him  out  of 
your  dwelling  or  even  bedchamber.  He  can  readily 
remove  a  window  pane  or  a  door  panel,  or  cut  a  hole 
and  draw  the  bolt  or  turn  the  key,  or  pick  some  outside 
door  lock,  or  open  it  with  your  own  key  if  left  in  the 
lock,  by  gripping  from  the  outside  the  end  with  an 
instrument  they  have  for  the  purpose. 


20 


The  insecurity  of  Private  Safes  generally  as 
Depositories  of  Bonds  and  similar 
Valuable  Papers. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  Private  Safes :  Fire  Proof, 
Burglar  Proof,  and  Fire  and  Burglar  Proof. 

As  against  a  Fire,  the  reliability  of  a  Fire  Proof 
Safe  depends  much  upon  its  locality ;  whether  built 
in  the  wall,  and  its  chances  there  against  the  heat 
as  well  as  the  falling  of  the  wall ;  next,  whether  it  is 
upon  a  floor  liable  to  be  hurled  to  the  cellar  as  the 
floor  burns  ;  and  how  far  it  would  thus  fall ;  and  how 
likely  it  is  to  stand  the  crash,  and  the  crushing  weight 
of  the  ruins,  for  once  open  it  ever  so  little  and  its 
contents  are  gone. 

These  depend  upon  its  material  and  how  that  is  put 
together.  What  does  any  purchaser  of  a  Safe  for  his 
own  use  know  of  either  of  these  two  points  ?  The 
Safes  of  thirty  years  ago  were  pronounced  by  their 
venders  as  invulnerable,  yet  who  would  trust  an  old 
almanac  in  a  ''thoroughly  Fire"  and  even  "Bur- 
glar Proof  Safe  "  of  thirty  years  ago  '(  They  were  the 
best  security  that  could  be  had  at  that  time  ;  but  then 
Burglary  was  neither  so  much  of,  nor  so  profitable  a 
profession,  as  since  the  wider  field  has  opened  to 
criminal  enterprise  in  the  immense  issue  of  Bonds 
not  only  of  Government  but  of  States,  Cities,  Coun- 
ties, Towns,  Railroads,  Mining  Companies,  and  every 
description  of  Corporations  needing  money.  Much 
Mercantile  Paper  is  now  drawn  to  the  order  of  the 
drawer  and  by  him  indorsed  in  blank,  to  facilitate 
negotiation  by  delivery  "without  recourse."  The 


21 


public  are  learning,  though  slowly,  that  what  would 
do  in  times  past  for  safe  keeping  a  Certificate  of  Bank 
Stock  is  not  the  thing  now  for  Government  and  other 
Bonds. 

No  vender  of  filled  Fire  Proof  Safes  claims  for  them 
any  Burglar  Proof  qualities.  The  modern  ones  have 
a  smaller  inner  cast  iron,  or  Avhen  specially  ordered  at 
an  added  expense,  steel  and  iron  closet  with  a  lock,  for 
better  security  of  more  valuable  papers  while  the  Safe 
is  open;  these  are  termed  "Burglar  Proof  Boxes,"  and, 
in  a  limited  sense,  not  inappropriately.  But,  the  Safe 
once  opened,  what  is  to  prevent  this  Box  being 
wrenched  from  its  place,  taken  off  bodily,  and  smashed 
open  at  leisure,  as  was  done  m  a  recent  Burglary  up- 
town ?  A  Fire  Proof  Safe,  so-called,  should  not  be 
expected  to  stand  any  very  severe  tests.  With  those 
made  of  rolled  iron  and  filling,  the  safety  of  their  con- 
tents depends  partly  upon  the  non-conducting  power 
and  thickness  of  that  filling,  but  more  upon  how  the 
Safe  is  fitted  and  secured  together  with  reference  to  the 
exclusion  of  air  from  entering,  especially  about  the 
doors,  as  it  is  the  access  of  the  fresh  exterior  air  to 
the  heated  air  inside  that  causes  combustion  of  the 
contents. 

The  Fire  Proof  cast  iron  Safes  with  filling,  are 
liable  to  cracking  from  the  expansion  by  heat  of  so 
large  a  surface  of  casting  in  one  piece,  and  from  the 
contact  of  water  from  the  engines  upon  its  heated 
surface,  through  which  cracks  as  well  as  those  about 
the  door,  the  external  air  may  reach  the  heated  interior 
and  cause  combustion. 


22 


Nineteen  twentieths  of  all  the  Safes  sold  are  of  the 
Fire  Proof  kind. 

But  few  mere  "Burglar  Proof  Safes"  are  made, 
and  usually  to  order.  They  have  no  tilling  and  are 
usually  made  of  layers  of  rolled  iron  and  steel.  Its 
merit  as  Burglar  Proof  consists  in  the  steel  being 
hardened  to  the  proper  point;  not  too  hard  so  as  to 
be  too  brittle,  nor  too  soft  so  as  to  admit  of  being 
drilled ;  as  well  as  in  the  way  the  steel  is  secured 
between  the  layers  of  iron,  and  then  the  general  work- 
manship in  putting  the  whole  together,  all  of  which 
must  necessarily  with  the  purchaser  be  a  matter  of 
faith.  In  regard  to  the  "  Burglar  Proof  Safes  "  made 
from  chilled  cast  iron,  those  who  adopt  the  steel  style 
say  they  can  be  readily  drilled.  AVe  do  not  propose 
to  discuss  the  relative  merits  of  the  different  modes  of 
making  safes,  but  simply  to  explain  generally  the  con- 
tingencies to  which  all  private  safes  are  liable. 

A  Fire  and  Burglar  Proof  Safe  is  a  Burglar 
Proof  Safe  encased  in  a  Fire  Proof  Safe  filling  and  is 
seldom  made.  Some  of  the  cast-iron  styles  without 
filling  claim  to  rank  as  Fire  and  Burglar  proof. 

A  Safe  was  recently  drilled  and  blown  open  in 
!N'ew  Jersey,  and  rifled,  being  muffled  in  carpetings  so 
successfully  that  though  surrounded  by  buildings  in 
a  thickly  populated  town,  the  explosion  attracted  no 
attention. 

The  weakest  part  of  a  private  Fire  Proof  or  of  a 
private  Burglar  Proof  Safe,  against  burglary,  next 
after  the  chance  of  drilling  into  it,  or  pickmg  or  blow- 
ing off*  the  lock,  is  the  chance  of  tearing  out  the  door, 


23 


or  tearing  apart  the  fastenings  at  the  angles  by  wedges 
driven  in  the  cracks  of  the  door. 

On  New  Year's  Eve,  in  a  prominent  store  up-town 
a  jack-screw  was  fixed  to  one  of  the  Safe  doors,  which 
was  thus  drawn  out  without  noise.  The  little  Burglar 
Proof  Box,  so  called,  was  wrenched  out  bodily  and 
carried  away.  The  store  was  entered  through  the  roof 
from  an  adjoining  house. 

About  Locks. 

The  subject  of  Locks  opens  a  wide  field,  which  we 
do  not  propose  to  enter  upon.  Locks,  which  a  few 
years  ago  were  considered  a  reliable  protection,  are 
not  now  considered  as  any  protection  against  an  expert 
hand.  There  are  some  which  have  never  been  picked. 
This  country  is  far  ahead  of  Europe  in  Locks.  Where 
there  is  a  large  access  for  a  Key,  there  is  the  same 
access  for  Gunpowder. 

The  Locks  upon  Fire  Proof  Safes  are  of  a  cheaper 
class  than  those  upon  Burglar  Proof  Safes,  as  with 
suitable  tools  ready  access  may  be  had  through  any 
part  of  the  Fire  Proof  Safe. 

If  a  new  Lock  appears  on  the  market,  the  burglars 
are  among  its  earliest  buyers,  and  hardest  and  most 
ingenious  students,  promptly  to  determine  its  true 
value. 

How  Securities  in  Private  Safes  may  become 
Illegible. 

There  is  great  hazard  that  if  you  lock  up  3'our  papers 
in  a  private  Safe  for  any  length  of  time,  you  wilh 


24 


find  dampness  has  rendered  the  handwriting  nearly 
illegible.  This  is  especially  the  case  with  Fire  Proof 
Safes. 

Besides  the  provision  for  warming,  ventilating  and 
keeping  dry  our  Vaults  in  all  weather,  each  of  the  small 
Safes  of  this  Company  is  separatel}^  ventilated  with  a 
view  to  obviate  this  risk,  so  that  a  Renter  with  us 
might  be  absent  in  Europe  for  years,  and  on  his  return 
find  his  papers  in  good  condition. 

The  Great  Risk  of  Keeping  Securities  at  one's 
Residence. 

Those  who  keep  their  Securities  at  their  Residences 
incite  to  Burglary,  to  Murder,  and  then  to  Arson  to 
coverall.  In  the  Country  the  risk  is  evidently  greatly 
enhanced  in  every  way. 

Those  whose  residence  is  in  the  City,  and  who,  dur- 
ing their  absence  in  the  Summer,  leave  their  Plate,  and 
especially,  their  Bonds  in  their  Safes  in  their  residences, 
besides  the  usual  risks  of  Fire  and  Burglary,  run  the 
risk  of  collusion  with  Burglars  by  the  Domestic  they 
may  leave  in  charge ;  or  of  the  Domestic  being  over- 
come by  force,  threat,  or  strategy.  Does  this  Domestic 
never  leave  the  premises  ?  Does  she  never  make 
acquaintances  outside,  or  receive  company  at  home  ? 
If  the  Residence  is  closed,  and  no  Domestic  left  in 
charge,  and  the  City  night  watchman  requested  to 
have  an  eye  to  it,  faithful  as  most  of  them  are,  what 
does  the  owner  usually  know  of  this  one  ?  Some  have 
been  known  to  be  in  collusion  with  criminals. 


25 


Latterly  a  favorite  entrance  to  Houses  in  the  City 
has  been  from  the  roof,  through  some  other  house  in 
the  block ;  once  safely  inside  a  house  shut  up  for  the 
Summer,  there  is  surely  plenty  of  time  to  work  at 
leisure,  more  especially  with  an  accomplice  to  keep 
watch. 

A  Lady  at  Saratoga  last  Summer  had  her  pocket 
picked  of  the  key  to  the  Safe  at  her  residence  in 
the  upper  part  of  this  City.  Subsequently  the  Safe 
was  robbed  of  about  $8,000  in  Bonds  and  Cash,  and 
the  papers  state  there  was  no  doubt  some  connection 
between  the  robbery  and  the  picking  of  the  pocket. 

If  one  in  the  Country  has  Securities  of  value  it  is 
almost  impossible  that  it  should  not  be  known  in  the 
neighborhood ;  and  if  so,  readily  learned  by  any  in- 
quiring Burglar ;  and  then,  through  Domestics  or 
laborers,  either  with  or  without  their  collusion,  all  in 
regard  to  the  localities  of  the  house  or  the  habits  of 
the  family  may  be  ascertained. 

Robbery  is  more  systematized  to-day  than  ever 
before  in  this  country.  The  immense  issue  of  Bonds 
of  all  descriptions  tends  to  the  increase  of  this  crime ; 
and  so  do  the  circumstances  of  the  times ;  among  which 
is  the  return  to  the  community  of  so  many  idle  and 
dissolute  persons  accustomed  to  plunder,  violence,  and 
blood,  as  camp-followers,  or  a  certain  class  of  Bounty 
Soldiers, — too  many  of  whom  in  the  latter  days  of  the 
Rebellion  were  the  scum  of  the  community.  A  part  of 
the  Pictorial  Press  has  also  largely  contributed  to  it, 
in  inflaming  the  minds  of  their  readers,  mostly  of  the 
lower  classes,  with  fascinating  representations  in  type 
and  pictures  of  deeds  of  violence  and  crime. 


26 


In  City  or  Coun.try  there  is  ample  opportunity  for  a 
Robber  to  secrete  himself  in  any  dwelling  or  store 
during  the  day  and  let  in  accomplices  at  night ;  or  to 
corrupt  some  Domestic  or  Employe  to  leave  a  door  or 
window  unfastened,  or  to  unfasten  one  after  you  3^our- 
self  have  fastened  up.  How  many  families  lock  up  and 
leave  their  houses  alone,  to  attend  Church,  or  to  make 
visits. 

A  Farmer  in  Xew  Jersey  was  induced  to  deposit  his 
own  Securities  with  this  Compan}^,  and  also  to  bring  a 
neighbor  with  him  to  do  the  same,  by  having  the  key 
to  his  Safe  on  the  lower  floor  of  his  residence  taken 
by  Burglars  at  night  from  his  pocket  at  his  bedside, 
without  disturbing  him  or  his  wife,  till  the  moving 
about  of  the  thieves  below  awakened  her.  Her 
husband  was  upon  them  barely  in  time  to  save  his 
property.  They  were  unlocking  the  Safe  containing 
his  Securities.  What  could  have  saved  his  Bonds 
even  then,  had  they  chosen  to  draw  revolvers. 

Another  Farmer  in  I^ew  Jersey,  after  being  expos- 
tulated with  by  his  neighbors  on  the  risk  of  keeping 
his  Securities  on  his  premises  hid  about  in  nooks  and 
corners,  gratified  them  all  at  last  by  informing  them 
he  had  bought  a  Safe  and  put  all  his  Securities  in  that. 
Soon  after,  having  occasion  to  visit  a  neighbor,  he 
locked  up  his  house  and  drove  off  with  all  his  house- 
hold. But  on  his  return  at  the  end  of  the  evening  he 
was  dismayed  to  find  his  now  Safe  gone  and  no  clue 
has  been  since  had  to  its  whereabouts,  except  the 
track  of  cart  wheels  backed  up  to  his  door ;  nor  need 
the  case  have  been  much  altered  had  he  been  at  home; 
a  pistol  would  have  enforced  acquiescence. 


27 


The  papers  recently  state  a  case  on  Long  Island, 
where,  on  returning  with  his  family  from  an  evening 
visit,  a  farmer  found  his  dwelling  in  flames,  and  on  his 
attempting  to  get  to  the  room  where  he  had  secreted 
his  Bonds,  he  found  all  access  cut  ofl:'  by  the  fire  and 
smoke.  Examination  of  the  lower  part  of  the  house 
showed  that  it  had  been  broken  into  and  robbed  and 
then  set  on  fire  to  cover  the  robbery. 

The  best  of  Dogs  is  no  protection ;  in  Westchester 
County,  a  valuable  dog,  the  reliance  of  the  family  for 
safety,  was  silenced  with  a  piece  of  meat  and  a  few. 
cents'  worth  of  strychnine.  The  house  was  then 
entered,  the  Safe  quickly  opened,  and  Ten  Thousand 
Dollars'  worth  of  Bonds  taken  from  it.  I^o  one  in 
the  house  knew  of  the  entrance  or  the  exit  of  the 
E-obbers,  though  some  of  the  family  slept  upon  the 
floor  upon  which  the  Safe  stood. 

The  newspapers  teem  with  instances  of  loss  of  Bonds 
from  this  house-keeping  of  them.  In  one  case  a  man 
hid  them  in  summer  in  the  parlor  stove ;  on  the  ap- 
proach of  cold  weather,  his  good  wife  thought  a  little 
fire  in  the  parlor  would  tend  to  his  comfort,  and  in 
a  moment  the  savings  of  years  had  vanished. 

In  another  case,  a  man  thinking  to  elude  the  search 
of  a  robber,  should  one  come,  wrapped  his  Bonds  in  a 
newspaper  and  threw  them  into  an  empty  cigar  box 
on  the  closet  shelf.  His  little  son,  desiring  to  make 
a  blaze,  pounced  upon  this  false  pretence  and  his 
father's  long  savings  vanished  in  smoke. 

The  newspapers  not  long  smce  mentioned  the  Bob- 
bery of  some  Securities  from  a  lady  who  had  secreted 


28 

them  in  the  seat  of  her  sofa.  A  young  man  who  was 
addressing  her  daughter,  was  said  to  have  heen  insti- 
gated to  it  by  an  outside  acquaintance  to  whom  he  had 
stated  the  fact  of  their  being  there.  Also  another, 
w^here  Securities  were  secreted  in  the  wall  of  the  dwell- 
ing and  overhauled  by  workmen  in  making  repairs. 

A  house  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city  was  recently 
entered  in  broad  day-light  by  a  ladder  to  a  second 
story  back  window,  and  over  $8,000  in  Bonds  and 
Jewelry  stolen. 

In  another  case,  a  permit  to  view  the  house,  proba- 
bly forged,  purporting  to  be  from  the  Broker  having 
the  renting  of  it,  was  presented,  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  Bonds  and  Jewelry  was  stolen. 

In  anothei  recent  case,  while  the  family  were  at 
dinner,  roboers  climbed  up  the  piazza  pillars  of  a 
house  in  this  city,  and,  locking  the  doors  of  the  cham- 
ber inside  against  intrusion  from  the  family,  took  from 
a  drawer  a  large  amount  of  Bonds  and  Jewelry. 

We  all  remember  the  horrible  atrocity  of  the  mur- 
der of  a  w^iole  family  in  Pennsylvania  by  the  monster 
Probst,  their  farm  hand,  for  the  paltry  sum  of  $300. 
Why  may  not  this  be  re-enacted  for  a  larger  sum  in 
Bonds?  The  equally  horrid  murder  in  IS'ew  Jersey  of 
the  wife  of  a  Physician  in  the  absence  of  her  husband, 
by  a  domestic,  though  apparently  not  for  money,  shows 
what  may  be  done  even  by  a  female  of  the  household, 
kindly  treated,  when  sufficient  inducement  is  offered. 
Of  that  inducement  we  have  no  ij:au2re. 

In  this  country  where  Domestics  are  changed  so 
often,  we  have  but  little  opportunity  to  know  much 
of  them. 


29 


The  Theft  of  a  Tin  Box  containing  between  One  and 
Two  Hundred  Thousand  Dollars  from  the  chamber  of  a 
residence  in  Madison  Avenue,  while  the  family  were 
at  tea,  is  a  warning. 

A  family  placed  their  Bonds  in  a  drawer  in  their 
"spare  chamber"  and  missed  them  soon  after  a  friendly 
visit  from  one  they  had  put  in  there  for  the  night.  The 
occurrence  has,  with  much  mutual  ill  feeling,  broken 
ofl'  all  intercourse  between  them.  Has  any  one  a  right 
to  place  another  in  this  position  ? 

The  newspapers  recently  recited  a  case,  and  there 
are  many  more  of  a  precisely  similar  character,  w^iere 
a  set  of  desperadoes  entered  a  house  in  the  country, 
tied  and  gagged  a  Farmer,  his  wife,  daughter  9.nd  hired 
man,  and  compelled,  under  threat  of  a  pistol,  the 
Farmer  to  hand  over  his  Bonds,  and  all  to  keep  quiet 
till  they  got  fairly  off. 

Except  that  it  is  less  portable,  the  same  might 
happen  with  Family  plate,  and  certainly  with  Jewelry. 

How  much  safer  and  more  agreeable  in  such 
emergencies  to  be  able  coolly  to  say,  "We  have  no 
Securities  here  ;  they  are  all  in  the  Safe  Deposit  Co. 
of  ITew  York,  and  here  is  the  evidence  of  that  fact," 
showing  its  Certificate  of  Deposit,  and  if  the  fellow 
demands  that,  gracefully  to  comply  ;  it  can  do  you  no 
harm,  for  it  is  not  transferable  ;  and  the  Company 
would  not  pay  it  to  any  one  else  than  the  persons 
named  in  its  Certificate.  Then  too,  the  owner  of 
Securities  so  deposited,  who  knew  his  neighbors  to 
be  aware  of  his  being  a  Bond-holder,  would  take  care 
to  let  them  know  that  they  were  so  deposited,  and 
thus  obtain  immunity  from  even  a  visit  from  burglars. 


30 

The  recent  Robbery  of  $300,000  from  a  Farmer  in 
the  oil  regions  of  Pennsylvania  should,  it  would  seem, 
be  an  effective  warning  to  others. 

In  pursuance  of  our  invitation  to  the  public  to  call 
and  view  our  premises,  an  honest  German  retail  grocer 
was  introduced,  and  after  looking  about,  expressed 
his  regret  that  he  had  not  known  of  the  Institution  a 
month  before,  as  he  had  $6,000  in  Bonds  stolen  from 
a  trunk  under  his  bed  in  the  second  story,  while 
he  was  shutting  up  his  shop  in  front.  "But,"  he  added  . 
with  animation,  "  I  shall  know  now  where  to  bring 
any  more  I  may  get." 

The  risk  run  by  having  Securities  about  the  premises 
in  the  event  of  sudden  death  by  an  accident  or  other- 
wise, or  even  in  case  of  severe  sickness,  is  worth 
consideration.  How  easy  at  such  a  time  of  family 
distress  for  some  domestic  or  nurse,  or  it  may  be  even 
some  connection  or  intimate  to  steal  them.  How  easy 
on  accidentally  coming  across  Securities  while  under 
any  extraordinary  excitement,  to  take  them  up  oneself 
inadvertently  and  mislaying,  expose  and  thus  lose  them. 

If  you  have  Securities  or  Surplus  Silver  Plate  upon 
your  premises,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  conceal  the 
fact  from  your  Domestics.  It  may  in  most  cases  be 
not  so  much  their  want  of  integrity  you  have  to  fear, 
as  their  want  of  discretion.  It  is  the  current  opinion 
that  many  of  the  Robberies  of  Dwellings  are  due  to 
the  lack  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  virtues  in  a  Do- 
mestic, Waiter  or  Coachman. 

One  of  our  Renters,  who  has  served  for  many  ^^ears 
upon  the  Grand  Jury,  says,  "one  not  familiar  with  the 


31 


subject  would  be  surprised  to  learn  the  number  of 
Robberies  implicating  Domestics."  He  named,  among 
others,  a  case  where  the  girl,  with  streaming  eyes, 
informed  her  employer  that  all  the  Silver  Plate  had 
been  stolen.  She  had  lived  long  in  the  family  and  had 
their  implicit  confidence.  The  Detective  however, 
fixed  on  the  girl  as  an  accomplice,  and  against  the 
lady's  feelings  and  judgment,  and  the  girl's  most 
earnest  and  indignant  protestations,  took  her  to  the 
Station  House,  but  could  get  nothing  from  her  all  day 
but  asseverations  of  ignorance  and  innocence.  On 
approach  of  night  she  was  assured  that  she  must  be 
locked  up  if  she  would  give  no  information,  but  she 
still  stoutly  persisted,  with  tears,  that  she  knew  nothing 
of  the  matter.  She  was  then  taken  to  the  Lock-up 
where  it  was  rather  dark,  and  espied  there  some 
suspicious-looking  packages  stowed  about,  which,  in 
answer  to  her  inquiries,  she  was  informed  were  cofiins. 
They  had  been  put  there  temporarily  in  the  course  of 
the  business  of  the  office.  Frightened  at  the  idea  of 
passing  the  night  there,  she  confessed  that  the  Silver 
could  all  be  found  with  a  young  man  of  her  acquaint- 
ance, wdiere  was  also  found  quite  an  accumulation  of 
other  stolen  Plate. 

The  Art  of  Grabbing. 

The  perfection  to  which  some  of  the  thieves  have 
cultivated  themselves  in  this  almost  exceeds  belief. 
The  process  is  for  a  well-dressed  fellow  to  hang  about 
the  office  as  though  on  business,  closely  watching  his 
opportunity,  until  with  a  skill  worthy  a  better  cause, 


32 


he  makes  a  successful  grab  and  disappears.  In  tliis 
wa}^  $100,000  disappeared  from  the  office  in  Wall  street 
of  one  of  our  stock  millionaires.  So  also,  as  herein- 
before adverted  to,  a  very  large  sum  disappeared  from 
the  desk  of  an  office  of  one  of  our  leading  Banks,  and 
more  recently  a  case  of  an  equally  large  sum  from  the 
teller's  desk  in  another  leading  City  Bank.  These 
cases  have  been  of  frequent  occurrence. 

The  Great  Eisk  of  Keeping  Securities  in  a  Safe  at 
one's  place  of  Business. 

It  is  common  for  accomplices  to  enter  the  Office  of 
the  intended  victim,  selecting  a  time  when  he  is  alone 
in  his  Office,  and  while  one  engages  him  in  conversa- 
tion upon  fictitious  business,  the  others  rifle  his  Safe  as 
it  stands  open.  In  this  way  two  millions  in  value,  were 
abstracted  from  an  Office  in  this  City. 

A  part  of  this  belonged  to  a  friend  who  had  asked 
the  favor  of  leaving  his  Tin  Box  in  the  Safe. 

Another  recent  case  was  the  robbery  of  a  very  large 
amount  from  the  Safe  in  the  inner  private  Office  of 
a  prominent  Insurance  Company.  How  often  while 
the  Safe  is  open,  is  a  Counting  room  or  Office  left  with 
only  one  person,  easily  mastered  by  a  pistol,  or  if  a  lad, 
perhaps  by  strategy. 

ITot  long  since  a  successful  Robbery  of  a  merchant's 
Box  or  Safe  was  made  by  the  thief  pretending  to  be  an 
intimate  friend  of  the  employer  of  the  lad,  the  only 
one  in  charge  of  the  premises,  and  sending  him  with 
a  note  to  some  fictitious  name  "just  a  step  across  the 
street,  while  I  wait  an  answer." 


33 


Another  instance  was  recently  published,  where  two 
accomplices  entered  a  Counting  room  in  charge  of  only 
one  clerk,  and  while  one  diverted  his  attention  with 
pretended  business,  the  other  robbed  the  Safe. 

By  the  Official  Police  Report  nearly  six  thousand 
Stores  and  Buildings  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  were 
left  open  at  night,  within  only  the  last  year,  and  the 
Report  says  the  number  is  rapidly  increasing.  What 
an  opportunity  to  Burglars  for  access  and  undisturbed 
operation  is  offered  in  this  one  item  ! 

If  you  have  a  Combination  Lock  upon  your  Safe, 
what  is  to  prevent  an  Employe  from  changing  the 
Combination  in  your  absence?  Ignorant  of  the  change 
you  lock  it  as  usual,  but  on  his  Combination^  and  he  then 
has  full  access  to  it,  and,  having  accomplished  his 
purpose,  may  relock  it  and  thus  conceal  his  crime.  Or 
what  prevents  his  learning  your  Combination  surrepti- 
tiously, letter  by  letter,  by  observations  continued 
perhaps  for  months  ? 

As  a  practice,  in  business  places  the  Safe  usually  is 
and  perhaps  must  be,  during  business  hours,  open  ; 
neither  can  one  always  be  on  his  guard  to  make  sure 
the  place  in  it  for  his  Securities  is  locked,  nor  can  so 
close  a  watch  upon  the  key  of  that  place  be  always 
kept  as  to  ensure  protection  from  an  impression  of  it 
being  taken  by  some  one  in  or  about  the  Office. 

Putting  aside  safety,  is  it  right  unnecessarily  to 
throw  temptation  in  the  way  of  any  one? 

The  newspapers  state  that  one  of  the  Chief  Officers 
of  a  wealthy  Corporation  in  this  City  bethought  him- 
self after  his  arrival  last  Summer  at  a  Watering  place, 


34 


that  he  had  possibly  omitted  to  lock  the  small  ^'so 
called"  Burglar  Proof  compartment  in  his  Safe  con- 
taining the  Securities  of  the  Company  in  Government 
Bonds,  &c.  This  gentleman  would  doubtless  gladly 
pay  the  rental  of  many  Safes  in  the  vaults  of  our  Safe 
Deposit  Company,  rather  than  risk  again  enduring 
what  he  probably  suffered  in  the  interval  between  his 
first  thought  of  the  matter  and  the  reception  of  advice 
that  all  was  right. 

But  these  are  only  a  few  instances  by  way  of  illus- 
tration. The  newspapers  are  full  of  such.  It  is 
impossible  that  a  business  man  crowded  with  engage- 
ments can  be  at  all  times  and  at  every  moment  guarded 
against  all  contingencies;  and  still  more  impossible  for 
those  who  do  not  possess  the  culture  to  carefulness 
which  a  business  life  enforces. 

A  Renter  in  active  business  remarked  he  had  made 
many  times  its  rent  by  having  a  Safe  with  us  in  which 
he  could  put  Collateral  Securities  for  money  Loaned 
on  Call,  which  money  he  would  have  often  left  idle  in 
Bank  had  he  not  had  so  safe  a  place  to  keep  his 
collaterals. 

Asking  a  Friend  to  allow  Securities  to  be  put  in 
HIS  Safe  for  Safe  Keeping. 

When  a  better  and  so  inexpensive  a  mode  of  Safe 
Keeping  Securities  has  now  been  provided  by  this 
Company,  is  it  quite  right  thus  to  put  a  friend  in  a 
position  which  may  in  not  improbable  contingencies 
place  him  in  embarrassing  circumstances,  perhaps 
involving  his  character?   All  the  risks  hereinbefore 


35 


adverted  to,  as  pertaining  to  whatever  mode  he  may 
adopt  in  keeping  your  Securities  for  you,  are  super- 
added to  the  other  risks  and  objections  peculiar  to 
leaving  them  with  a  friend. 

Then  may  you  not  thus  put  in  his  way  a  temptation 
which  may  be  too  strong  for  him  ?  Oue  of  our  Deposit- 
ors in  leaving  his  Bonds  with  this  Company  remarked: 
"  These  are  what  are  left  of  a  considerable  part  of  my 
little  savings.  N'ot  knowing  of  your  Institution,  I  got 
a  friend  to  allow  me  to  put  them  in  his  Safe  for  safety. 
He  got  '  hard  up '  one  day,  and  doubtless  not  intend- 
ing me  harm,  but  in  full  conlidence  that  he  could  re- 
turn them,  he  took  the  liberty  of  a  '  forced  loan  '  with- 
out consulting  me.  His  business  turned  out  worse 
than  he  expected,  and  I  have  little  hope  of  his  ever 
having  the  ability  to  make  them  good."  The  Depos- 
itor w^as  a  literary  man,  and  his  savings  were  hard 
earned.  This  is  but  one  of  very  many  cases  almost 
daih^  occurring.  A  large  sum  in  Coupon  Bonds  w^as 
deposited  with  a  private  Banking  House  by  a  gentle- 
man going  abroad.  The  House  failed,  and  in  their 
difficulties  preceding  failure  made  a  forced  loan  of 
their  correspondent's  Bonds,  and  he  had  to  borrow 
money  abroad  to  pay  his  expenses  home. 

To  a  man  short  of  money  to  meet  his  obligations  of 
the  day,  the  clock  inexorably  verging  closer  and  closer 
to  the  fatal  Three,  every  other  resource  that  his 
circumstances  or  the  lateness  of  the  hour  will  admit, 
exhausted,  and  the  horrors  of  a  protest,  shaken  credit, 
perhaps  Bankruptcy,  staring  him  in  the  face,  and  only 
his  own  more  or  less  cultivated  sense  of  right  and  duty 


36 


Tbetween  his  confiding  friend's  Bonds  and — relief,  ''till 
he  can  tnrn  round  ;" — to  a  man  in  such  a  position  or 
within  the  possibility  of  it,  your  Bonds  are  a  tempta- 
tion which  you  have  no  right  unnecessarily  to  put  in 
his  way.  Or  suppose  them  to  disappear  from  his  Safe 
in  some  way  totally  unknown  to  him,  is  it  not  an  awk- 
ward position  for  him  to  be  put  in  ?  Suppose  your 
friend  delivers  your  securities  upon  a  forged  order, 
although  you  would  not  ask  him  to  bear  the  loss  he 
would  ever  after  feel  uncomfortable  about  it.  Then 
your  friend  may  die.  How  do  you  know  into  whose 
hand  in  that  event  your  Securities  may  fall  ?  You 
have  no  receipt  for  them  ;  perhaps  no  evidence  that 
they. were  ever  in  his  keeping. 

The  Great  Risk  of  Carrying  Securities  about  the 

Person. 

This  is  too  obvious  to  need  much  enlargement  upon. 
Besides  the  risk  to  the  property  it  is  an  incentive 
to  highway  robbery,  personal  violence  and  murder. 
Those  who  thus  carry  their  Securities,  when  they 
insure  life  or  limb  at  an  Accident  Company,  should 
also  insure  a  further  sum  for  the  loss  of  any  Securities 
they  may  have  about  them. 

In  case  of  sudden  or  accidental  death  in  any  public 
place,  popular  ignorance  leaves  the  body  till  the 
Coroner  comes,  fair  game  for  any  one  who  may  claim 
to  look  after  it  as  a  relative.  We  all  know  that 
Railroad  accidents  are  often  planned  for  the  plunder 
of  the  baggage,  and  persons  of  the  victims.  The 
newspapers  are  full  of  such  accounts. 


37 


Not  long  since,  one  of  200  passengers  attempting 
to  cross  the  Mississippi  on  the  ice,  got  a  thorough  im- 
mersion, and  while  drying  his  clothes  at  some  public 
place,  lost  Six  Thousand  Dollars  from  his  coat  pocket. 

A  gentleman  in  Wall  street  recently  had  a  consid- 
erable amount  of  Bonds  stolen  from  the  pocket  of  his 
surtout  hanging  in  liis  office.  This  might  more  readily 
be  done  at  a  Restaurant  in  the  Winter  by  an  exchange 
of  overcoats. 

There  are  very  many  circumstances,  some  of  which 
will  at  once  occur  to  the  reader,  in  which  a  man  who 
carries  Securities  about  him,  may  by  his  own  act  per- 
haps very  trivial  in  itself  seriously  jeopard  them. 

The  number  of  Professional  Pickpockets  both  male 
and  female  in  this  City  alone  is  very  large,  they  are 
regularly  trained  to  the  business,  and  are  said  to  have 
a  regular  organization,  and  usually  hunt  in  couples  or  a 
larger  number.  Their  chief  fields  of  operation  are  the 
Horse-cars  and  Omnibuses,  the  Ferries  and  the  Kail- 
road  Depots,  the  Places  of  Amusement  and  other 
Public  Meetings,  and  wherever  they  can  find  a  crowd ; 
but  they  are  not  confined  to  those,  they  operate  in  the 
greatest  thoroughfares  and  in  broad  daylight,  render- 
ing it  risky  even  to  carry  Securities  from  one  part  of 
the  City  to  another.  The  writer  has  in  mind  the  case 
of  a  lady  who  in  Broadway  during  business  hours,  was 
robbed  of  $500  in  Bills.  The  snatching  of  the  Satchel 
or  Port  Monnaie  from  ladies  in  the  street  is  a  favorite 
mode  of  Eobbery. 

How  easily  may  any  man  be  drugged  when  he  eats 
or  drinks ;  nor  is  every  one  who  may  have  Securities 


38 


about  his  person  wholly  beyond  the  contingency  of 
occasional  or  accidental  elation,  even  if  enough  only 
to  speak  of  having  them  and  so  hazarding  being  dog- 
ged and  robbed. 

Chloroform  seems  latterly  to  have  become  as  popular 
with  the  criminal  classes  as  with  the  practitioners  of  the 
healino;  art. 

The  many  occasions  on  which  this  is  available  for 
Robbery  will  occur  to  all  with  a  little  thought ; — as  in 
public  conveyances  and  under  very  many  circumstances 
where  Securities  are  carried  about  the  person  ; — where 
an  Office  or  Residence  is  left  in  chars^e  of  but  one  in- 
dividual ; — where  a  Robber  can  get  at  you  while  asleep, 
in  public  conveyances,  your  chamber  and  elsewhere, 
or  overcome  you  awake,  so  as  to  administer  it  to  you, 
&c.,  &c. 

Advantages  of  the  Location  of  this  Co. 

It  is  one  of  the  great  advantages  that  this  Company 
offers,  that  its  admirable  location  in  Broadway  in  the 
heart  of  the  financial  centre  of  the  City,  within  a 
couple  of  blocks  of  Wall  street,  enables  its  Dealers  to 
avoid  the  risk  of  carrying  the  Securities  or  Coupons 
any  distance  for  negotiation  or  conversion.  The  loca- 
tion combines  also  many  points  rendering  it  peculiarly 
safe. 

How  TO  Avoid  Lending  your  Securities, 

A  person,  especially  in  the  country,  know^n  to  hold 
so  readily  available  property  as  Coupon  Bonds,  is  often 
importuned  for  a  temporary  loan  of  them  as  a  handy 


39 


collateral  at  the  Bank.  If  they  are  deposited  with  this 
Company,  this  is  all  avoided  without  alienating  friends, 
as  the  Certificates  of  Deposit  of  the  Company  are  not 
transferable. 

The  unappreciated  Risks  of  Iveepin({  and  Handling 
one's  own  Securities. 

A  vast  amount  of  Government  Bonds,  often  in  sums 
so  small  as  $50  or  $100,  have  come  into  the  hands  of 
persons  all  over  this  city  and  the  country  not  accus- 
tomed to  the  care  of  paper  Securities  negotiable  by 
delivery  like  Coupon  Bonds,  and  who  do  not  appre- 
ciate the  various  risks  of  their  present  hazardous  mode 
of  keeping  them,  and  even  of  handling  them,  and  who 
have  not  the  habits  or  the  surroundings  adapted  to 
their  Safe  Keeping.  To  such  it  would  be  not  only 
an  act  ot  neighborly  kindness  but  of  humanity,  to  make 
this  Institution  known.  We  receive  Deposits  in  any 
sums,  or  at  any  valuation  however  small. 

Besides  the  risk  of  Eobbery  and  of  Fire,  who  does 
not  know  how  easy  it  is,  even  for  the  most  business- 
like, to  mislay  a  valuable  paper ; — how  much  more  so 
then  to  those  who  have  not  had  that  training,  l^or 
are  such  confined  to  the  Working  classes.  Ladies, 
Professional  men  and  others  may  be  classed  with  them 
in  this  respect. 

Illustrative  of  this  risk  even  to  business  men,  a  case 
occurred  to  a  millionaire  who  is  one  of  our  Renters. 
He  missed  $10,000  in  Coupon  Bonds.  He  felt  quite 
sure  that  he  had  put  them  in  his  Safe  in  this  Compa- 
ny's Vaults : — he  even  felt  convinced  at  the  time  he 


40 


missed  them  that  he  remembered  cutting  off  Coupons 
from  them  from  his  Box  in  his  Safe.  He  finally  con- 
cluded he  must  have  taken  them  out  of  the  Box  and 
in  some  unaccountable  way  lost  them.  After  adver- 
tising by  handbills  and  newspapers,  and  a  correspond- 
ence with  Washington,  he  gave  them  up  for  lost, 
^^"early  a  year  afterwards  he  discovered  them  in  a  Safe 
which  he  had  sent  away  for  storage  before  he  rented 
a  Safe  in  the  Vaults  of  this  Company,  and  into  which 
old  Private  Safe  he  had  occasion  to  look  for  some 
paid  bills  relating  to  his  Real  Estate. 

A  gentleman  missed  a  bond  or  document  of  value, 
and  after  a  search  in  all  the  pockets  of  his  clothes  and 
about  the  house,  it  could  nowhere  be  found.  After 
some  time  one  of  his  family  reminded  him  he  had  be- 
fore he  missed  his  bond  purchased  a  new  hat,  and  asked 
what  had  been  done  with  the  old  one.  It  was  brought 
from  the  garret,  and  the  lost  treasure  was  found  under 
its  leather  lining.  The  fact  of  putting  it  there  had 
utterly  passed  from  his  memory. 

A  member  of  the  bar,  looking  over  some  Coupon 
Bonds  in  his  office  up  stairs,  was  espied  by  a  thief,  who 
told  him  a  gentlemen  was  waiting  to  see  him  below ; 
the  lawyer  hastily  left  his  Bonds  and  went  down  to 
meet  his  supposed  visitor,  when  the  thief  seized  the 
Bonds  and  made  off  with  them. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  employes  of  this  Company,  to 
look  after  its  Renters  while  they  are  handling  their 
Securities  upon  the  desks  provided  for  them,  to  see 
that  they  leave  nothing  of  value  upon  those  desks  or 
upon  the  floor. 


41 


Advantages  of  an  Absolutely  Safe  and  Convenient 
Place  in  which  to  overhaul  one's  Securities 
without  removing  them  from  the  premises  where 

THEl  ARE  KEPT. 

Coupon  Bonds  of  any  sort  are  somewhat  of  a  novelty 
to  the  great  body  of  even  the  investing  community 
and  they  require  a  novel  mode  for  their  safe  keeping, 
— which  need  this  Company  meets  in  its  fullest  require- 
ments. 

It  surely  is  a  great  point  to  have  a  place  where 
one's  Securities  can  be  overhauled,  absolutely  protected 
from  all  grabbing,  chloroform,  pick-pocket,  slung  shot, 
pistol,  and  other  violence;  against  all  intrusion  under 
any  pretence  ;  and  where  3^ou  are  carefully  provided 
against  loss  even  from  your  own  inadvertency. 

How  much  more  of  a  point  is  this 

To  Ladies. 

For  them  this  Company  provides  a  Special  Room 
WITH  Separate  Convenient  Desks. 

We  especially  invite  visits  from  Ladies  to  vicAv  our 
premises,  ^vhether  they  have  occasion  for  any  dealings 
with  the  Company  or  not.  In  all  such  visits,  and  we 
have  many,  they  have  manifested  great  interest  in  our 
Vaults  and  Safes  and  our  general  arrangements  for 
business. 

Among  our  Depositors  and  Renters  of  Safes  the 
proportion  of  Ladies  to  Gentlemen  is  large,  including 
not  only  Widows  and  Single  Ladies,  but  many  Married 
Ladies. 


42 


The  Deposit  of  Wills  during  the  Life  of  the 

Maker. 

There  are  many  risks  in  keeping  a  Will  on  one's 
own  premises.  A  wealthy  widower  of  this  city  left 
his  property  in  trust  to  his  tw^o  only  children,  daugh- 
ters. He  kept  his  Will  in  his  bureau  drawer.  At 
the  instigation  of  two  young  men  whom  they  subse- 
quently married,  the  daughters  destroyed  the  Will, 
thus  placing  the  property  in  their  own  right  and  con- 
trol. This  property  is  now  pretty  much  all  squan- 
dered. 

Even  left  with  your  counsel,  the  chances  of  the  Will 
being  mislaid  among  his  many  papers  is  worthy  of 
consideration.  Your  counsel's  office  may  burn,  or  he 
may  die,  and  into  whose  hands  may  his  papers  thea 
fall? 

To  a  person  determined  to  get  possession  of  a  Will 
and  knowing  in  whose  hands  it  had  been  left,  many 
ways  of  reaching  it  in  a  Lawyer's  office  would  suggest 
themselves ;  perhaps  by  a  forged  order,  or  by  other 
strategy,  or  through  some  regular  or  occasional  Em- 
ploye of  the  office,  during  or  after  business  hours. 
Take  a  turn  through  any  of  the  Office  Buildings  in 
^ew  York  while  the  women  who  necessarily  have 
keys  to  them  all  are  clearing  up,  and  see  with  what 
simple  trust  you  can  upon  a  plausible  story  gain  admit- 
tance to  any  of  them, — especially  if  the  request  is 
backed  by  a  fee. 

We  have  in  preceding  pages  seen  the  risks  if  the 
Will  is  in  a  Private  Safe ; — they  are  many  more  if  out 
of  It. 


43 


With  our  Company,  the  Will  is  left  by  the  maker  in 
an  Envelope  sealed  by  him ;  contents  known  only  to 
liimself  and  deliverable  only  as  he  designates;  acces- 
sible to  himself  at  all  times  ;  absolutely  safe  ;  for  the 
trifling  sum  of  five  dollars  in  one  payment  for  the 
maker's  entire  life ;  or  one  dollar  for  one  year. 

This  Company  is  the  first  place  to  which  the  Surro- 
gate, Judge  of  Probate,  or  Prothonotary  would  send 
the  heirs  to  search  for  a  Will :  indeed  the  Company's 
Certificate  of  Deposit  designating  to  whom  it  is  de- 
liverable would  be  found  among  the  maker's  papers. 

Is  it  wise  if  one  has  made  a  Will,  not  to  provide  for 
it  the  best  Safe  Keeping  that  can  be  had  ? 

This   Company   provides  against   both   Fire  and 

Death. 

Though  every  ofiicer  and  employe  were  swept  away 
by  pestilence  in  a  night,  the  business  is  so  transacted, 
that  a  new  set  could  take  their  places  in  the  morning, 
and  all  the  Deposits  would  be  there  in  security.  The 
Record  and  the  terms  of  your  Deposit  stand  upon  the 
Books,  and  will  stand  there  for  generations.  This  is 
a  consideration  in  the  event  of  your  own  death,  sud- 
den or  otherwise,  without  a  Will  or  mention  of  your 
Securities. 

The  peculiar  and  absolute  Security  of  the  contents 
of  a  Safe,  including  a  Will  if  one  be  therein,  in  the 
event  of  the 

Death  of  the  Eenter 
is  a  point  of  especial  interest,  the  importance  of 
which  will  grow  upon  the  mind,  loith  refiection.    If  the 


44 


Renter  of  a  Safe  from  this  Company  had  appointed  a 
Deputy  to  have  access  to  his  Safe,  the  Deputy's  author- 
ity of  course  ceases  with  the  Death  of  his  Principal, 
and  no  one  is  allowed  access  to  the  Safe  except  upon 
the  Surrogate's  Certificate  of  authority,  and  the  satis- 
factory identification  of  the  bearer  of  it. 

If  the  Will  is  supposed  to  be  in  the  Safe,  search  is 
made  for  it  only  under  such  precaution ar}^  formalities 
and  before  such  and  so  many  witnesses,  as  to  Secure 
Absolute  Security. 

So  that  a  Renter  may  on  his  Death-Bed  feel  entire 
assurance  and  satisfaction  that  whenever,  wherever  or 
however  he  may  die,  what  he  leaves  in  his  Safe  in  the 
Vault  of  this  Company  is  protected  by  it  as  most 
inviolably  sacred,  as  a  Trust  for  his  Heirs,  till  the  Law 
shall  have  appointed  one  to  take  charge  of  the 
property. 

Those  who  have  had  occasion  to  go  through  our 
formalities  on  such  an  occasion,  and  we  have  had 
many  large  Estates  as  instances,  have  expressed  great 
satisfaction  at  the  effectual  safeguards  thrown  around 
property  in  a  Safe  of  the  Dead. 

The  Security  for  the  property  of  one  who  has  made  a 
Deposit  under  the  guarantee  of  the  Company  is,  in  the 
event  of  the  death  of  the  Depositor,  equally  absolute. 

In  short,  this  Company  is  now  the  first  place  where  after 
your  death  your  friends  icoidd  seek  for  information  of  your 
property. 

Family  Plate  or  Jewelry. 

To  those  having  Family  Plate  or  Jewelry  not  in  use, 
especially  if  Family  Relics,  Wedding  or  other  Pres- 


45 


eots, — and  still  more  if  held  for  minor  children  ; — or 

to  those  LEAVING  THE  CiTY  FOR  THE  SUMMER,  OR  FOR 

Europe,  or  to  those  breaking  up  housekeeping,  this 
Company  is  especially  of  importance. 

A  gentleman,  a  widower,  remarked  to  the  writer 
while  the  Company  was  being  started,  "  I  wish  your 
Company  had  been  existing  a  few  years  ago,  it  would 
have  enabled  me  to  save  all  my  wife's  Jewelry  and 
Silver  which  after  her  death  I  left  with  her  sister 
to  keep  for  my  children  now  just  grown.  Her  dwell- 
ing took  tire,  and  the  family  having  only  time  to  save 
themselves,  every  relic  of  that  sort  belonging  to  my 
wife  was  burned :  a  loss  to  me  and  my  children  that 
no  money  can  replace." 

We  seldom  realize  how  much  regret  such  losses 
cause,  till  we  meet  them. 

A  PLACE  OF  security  for  such  articles  being  now  pro- 
vided, is  it  just  or  kind  to  others  interested  in  them, 
either  as  minors  directly,  or  as  our  future  heirs  to 
these  mementoes  of  ourselves  and  perhaps  of  those 
who  have  gone  before  us,  to  neglect  its  use  ? 

All  the  remarks  hereinbefore  made  in  regard  to  the 
Safe  Keeping  of  Bonds,  apply  with  even  greater  force 
to  Jewelry,  Watches,  etc. 

Imi>ortance  of  the  Safe  Keeping  of  Policies  of  Life 
OR  Fire  Insurance,  or  Bills  of  Taxes  and  Assess- 
ments UPON  Real  Estate. 

A  payment  was  recently  made  to  one  of  the  leading 
and  most  correct  Life  Insurance  Companies  of  the 
city  upon  a  Policy  not  at  hand  at  the  moment  of 


46 


payment.  Some  time  after,  the  Policy  was  sent  for 
endorsement  of  the  payment,  but  no  record  of  the  pay- 
ment could  be  found  on  the  Books  of  the  Company. 
In  the  press  of  business  it  had  been  omitted.  On  the 
Books  of  the  Company  that  Policy  stood  forfeited  for 
non-payment  of  the  premium.  Suppose  the  owner  of 
the  Policy  had  died  in  the  interim,  and  there  had  been 
no  evidence  on  his  side  of  the  payment  of  that  premi- 
um, and  such  a  thing  might  easily  happen  with  all 
good  faith  on  the  part  of  the  Insurance  Company,  that 
Policy  must  have  been  considered  as  expired,  and  the 
heirs  could  have  had  no  benefit  therefrom.  It  Avould 
have  resulted  the  same  had  the  payment  been  endorsed 
on  the  Policy  and  the  Policy  been  lost  before  the  death 
of  the  insured.  The  like  would  also  happen  to  a  re- 
newal of  a  Fire  or  Marine  Insurance,  were  the  Policy 
lost. 

To  be  able  to  produce  your  receipted  Bills  of 
Taxes  or  of  Assessments  upon  your  Real  Estate,  may 
in  certain  contingencies  involve  its  ownership,  even  to 
the  very  dwelling  you  occupy.  Suppose  an  omission 
whether  through  fraud  or  oversight,  in  the  Tax  Office 
of  your  locality,  to  enter  the  money  paid  by  you,  your 
property  in  a  large  city  might  be  sold  for  such  claims 
and  after  the  usual  time  your  right  of  redemption 
cease ; — all  without  your  knowledge  till  the  buyer 
calls  to  take  possession.  How  important  to  have  your 
receipted  Bills  safe  beyond  all  contingencies,  where 
you  can  lay  your  hand  at  once  upon  them  to  save  your 
Home. 


47 


To  Depositors  in  Savings  Banks 
this  Company  offers  a  Safe  Place  at  a  very  small 
expense  for  the  Safe  Keeping  beyond  the  reach  of  any 
one  but  the  rightful  owners  of  their 

Savings  Bank  Books, 

very  desirable  during  life,  and  in  the  event  of  the  De- 
jDOsitor's  death,  very  important  to  liis  or  her  heirs, — as 
most  of  such  Depositors  have  no  really  Safe  Place  to 
keep  them  in.  Your  mention  of  this  Company  to 
such  would  be  a  kindness  to  them. 

Importance  of  Safe  Keeping  Original  Deeds  or 
Mortgages  of  Country  Property. 

Have  those  who  hold  such  recorded  in  insecure 
County  Record  Offices  ever  reflected  upon  the  risks 
the}^  run?  Would  it  not  be  well  to  secure  the  Origin- 
als of  these  Deeds  and  Mortgages  bej^ond  doubt  ?  It 
is  but  a  few^  years  since  the  Record  Office  of  even  Bal- 
timore County,  Maryland,  was  burned,  and  many  of  its 
Records  destroyed,  involving  a  vast  amount  of  prop- 
erty;  so  with  the  Record  Office  of  Richmond,  Va. 

How  TO  Avoid  giving  Indemnity  Bonds  for  Lost 
Certificates  of  Stock. 

It  seldom  occurs  to  one's  mind  till  it  happens  to  him, 
the  uncomfortableness  of  asking  a  friend  to  join  him 
in  an  Indemnity  Bond,  as,  should  he  lose  any  of  his 
Certificates  of  Stock,  he  would  have  to  do,  and  that 
for  double  their  amount,  before  he  could  get  new  ones. 


48 


One  does  not  like  to  refuse  a  friend  such  a  request,  yet 
everybody  would  rather  not  be  asked,  feeling  it  to  be 
an  indefinite  something  hanging  forever  over  him  and 
his  heirs.  Then  it  gives  him  a  claim  on  you,  and  in 
return  you  may  have  to  assume  for  him  some  real  risk. 
At  all  events  you  are  less  independent  for  it.  How 
much  better  to  put  such  Securities  out  of  the  risk  of 
being  misplaced,  lost,  stolen  or  burnt. 

This  Company  offers  the  Requisite  Security. 

One  of  our  Renters  recently  remarked  "  I  would  not 
be  without  the  security  and  convenience  I  enjoy  as  a 
Renter  with  your  Company  for  a  Thousand  Dollars. 

The  Building  is  absolutely  Fire  Proof  There  is 
no  wood  in  its  construction.  The  floors  are  of  marble, 
on  Iron  beams  and  brick  arches  up  to  and  including 
the  uppermost  story.  The  Laths  are  Iron,  as  are 
the  window  and  door  frames,  wash-boards,  etc.  The 
Roof  is  Iron. 

The  Post  Ofllce,  the  Western  Union  Telegraph,  the 
office  of  the  Associated  Press  and  the  Police  Station 
are  within  a  few  hundred  feet.  The  corner  on  which 
it  stands  is  the  point  of  intersection  of  two  Precincts ; 
several  Policemen  meet  there  in  their  rounds  through 
the  night,  and  travel  is  constant  day  and  night. 

It  has  been  said,  Well,  I  think  you  are  perfectly 
safe  ;  how  about  a  Mob  ?  "  Has  New  York  ever 
known  a  Mob  to  attack  a  Savings  Bank?  This  is 
in  the  nature  of  one.  Very  many  of  our  Depositors 
are  of  the  same  class  as  those  in  Savings  Banks. 
Reviewing  the  causes  of  any  riots  that  have  ever 


49 


occurred  in  this  city  or  country,  none  can  be  imagined 
that  could  be  directed  against  these  Vaults,  involving 
as  they  do  the  interests  of  every  class  and  party.  But 
suppose  a  Riot ;  being  except  the  Government  Trea- 
sury the  most  important  point  to  be  protected  in  the 
City,  and  indeed  on  the  Continent,  it  would  be  the 
first  to  be  defended  by  State  or  City ;  and  the  interest 
in  it  being  so  diffused  through  every  class  of  citizens 
the  number  of  volunteer  muskets  in  its  defence  would 
far  outnumber  any  that  could  be  raised  for  its  attack. 
The  ^Tavy  Yard  is  near,  and  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment is  interested  to  protect  so  large  a  number  of 
holders  of  its  Bonds,  and  next  to  the  Custom  House 
and  Sub  Treasury  would  protect  this.  Its  position 
gives  four  points  from  which  musketry  or  cannon 
could  mow  down  any  mob.  Then  the  Company  can 
for  any  length  of  time  pour  upon  any  attacking  party 
a  steady  and  continuous  stream  of  boiling  water.  I^o 
mob  could  attack  it  with  the  doors  of  the  Vaults  open. 
Every  door  is  so  arranged  it  can  be  closed  and 
locked  simultaneously,  and  mobs  do  not  rise  from  the 
earth  in  a  moment; — further,  should  a  mob  ever  get 
to  the  closed  Vault  doors  they  could  do  no  material 
harm  ;  they  might  deface  them,  nothing  more. 

The  Company's  premises  are  brightly  lighted  up 
through  the  night,  and  the  window  shutters  unclosed. 
There  are  armed  watchmen  all  night  inside  of  the 
premises,  outside  of  and  in  front  of  the  Vaults,  and  a 
detector  clock  there  which  must  be  punctually  marked 
by  the  watchmen  every  half  hour,  or  the  dial  shows 
the  omission  in  the  morning.    The  watchmen  are  also 


50 


on  duty  inside  on  Sundays  and  Holidays  so  that  the 
premises  are  never  left  alone. 

It  has  been  remarked  by  visitors,  "  you  have  to  use 
great  care  in  the  selection  of  your  employes."  We 
have.  Every  appointment  has  been  made  solely  with 
a  view  to  the  adaptability  of  the  person,  and  in  no 
case  to  oblige  any  influential  stockholder  or  as  a  con- 
dition of  subscription  to  its  stock ;  and  that  will  con- 
tinue the  policy  of  the  Company.  But  such  are  the 
checks  of  our  system,  no  employe  could  defraud  the 
Company  to  any  damaging  amount  should  he  be  so 
disposed.  The  liules  of  the  Company  carried  out 
with  military  precision  leave  no  loophole  for  loss  from 
an  employe. 

Loaded  arms  are  provided  for  every  man  of  the  office 
during  the  hours  of  business.  No  one  in  the  office 
but  the  President  and  the  Secretary  can  lock  or  unlock 
any  of  the  Vaults. 

By  the  arrangements  of  this  Company  there  can  be 
no  forgetting  to  lock  the  Vaults,  which  as  has  been 
shown  above  is  one  of  the  risks,  and  an  important 
one  too,  w^ith  private  Safes ;  nor  could  any  grabber, 
thief,  concerted  raid  from  the  street,  or  disturbance 
purposely  gotten  up  in  the  office  by  pretended  visitors, 
have  the  least  chance  of  success. 

In  drawing  up  the  Hules  and  Regulations  and  By- 
Laws  of  the  Company  before  submitting  them  to 
counsel  for  legal  criticism,  the  writer  having  no  prece- 
dents to  go  by,  as  this  was  the  First  Safe  Deposit 
Company  established  in  the  world,  devoted  much 
thought  and  study  to  provide  against  every  contin- 


51 


gency  of  Accident,  Fraud  or  Violence  ;  and  the  opinion 
of  every  one  of  the  large  number  of  the  Company's 
dealers,  so  far  as  lias  come  to  the  writer's  knowledge, 
IS  that  the  object  has  been  successfully  accomplished. 

The  Board  of  Directors  fully  appreciate  the  great 
moral  responsibility  of  the  position  they  occupy  as 
such  before  the  community,  and  their  well-known 
record  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  that  they  will  do  their 
duty  in  looking  after  the  management  of  the  Institu- 
tion ;  it  also  has  the  unremitting  personal  superinten- 
dence of  the  President. 

The  Moral  Responsibility  of  neglecting  to  procure 
THE  Safest  Safe  Keeping  to  be  had. 

If  as  has  been  proved  above,  the  present  general 
mode  of  Safe  Keeping  Securities  is  unsafe,  and  if  this 
Company  does  offer  a  Place  of  Safe  Deposit,  it  is 
surely  worth  the  while  of  any  one  having  Securities 
of  his  own,  or  in  Trust  for  others  carefully  to  look  to 
his  duty  in  regard  to  them. 

There  can  be  no  excuse  in  the  expense ;  that  is  next  to 
nothing,  being  but  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent.,  i.  e.,  one 
dollar  on  a  Thousand  Dollars  of  Coupon  Bonds  for  a  year. 

If  a  dwelling  or  store  is  burned,  the  owner  who 
neglected  to  insure  is  considered  to  have  defrauded 
his  creditors  or  his  family,  if  the  pay  of  the  one  or  the 
comfort  of  the  other  depends  on  the  value  of  the 
property.  So  if  a  man  dies,  he  is  looked  upon  as  an 
improvident  and  undutiful  father  if,  having  the  means 
and  the  provision  being  necessary  to  his  family's  com- 
fort, he  did  not  provide  for  them  by  Life  Insurance. 


52 


As  to  Trust  Funds,  the  law  compels  the  Trustee  to 
replace  with  Interest  such  funds  when  lost  by  his  not 
availing  himself  of  the  best  security  for  them  loithin  his 
reach. 

Recent  as  well  as  old  Law  decisions  have  settled  it, 
that  it  is  by  no  means  enough  that  we  take  as  good 
care  of  such  sacred  property  as  we  do  with  our  own ; 
we  must  take  the  best  we  are  able,  or  be  responsible 
for  the  results. 

In  all  the  large  amount  of  securities  handled  since 
its  commencement,  this  Company  has  never  met  with 
A  Loss. 

Persons  at  a  distance  or  out  of  the  City 

Can  make  Deposits  through  the  responsible  Express 
Companies.  Securities  when  Avith  this  Company  are 
then  in  the  best  market  for  their  instant  sale  or  con- 
version, as  well  as  for  the  collection  of  the  Coupons 
or  interest  thereon  ;  either  or  both  of  which  can  be 
collected  and  remitted  to  Depositors  when  desired, — 
through  the  mail  by  check  payable  to  the  order  of  the 
Depositor  and  therefore  of  no  use  to  any  one  else  if 
lost,  or  by  Post  Office  Government  Draft, — or  in  Bank 
Bills  by  Express,  either  of  w^hich  renders  its  receipt  by 
the  Depositor  absolutely  sure. 

The  mere  interest  on  the  amounts  we  so  often  see 
ofiered  as  Rewards  for  tlie  recovery  of  Stolen  Securities 
would  -pay  the  rent  in  perpetuity  of  several  of  our 
smaller-sized  safes. 


53 


Non-liability  of  Hotel  Keepers. 

The  liability  of  a  hotel  keeper  for  money  or  securities 
in  his  safe  under  liis  charge  from  a  guest,  is  limited  to 
such  an  amount  as  his  guest  may  be  fairly  supposed  to 
require  for  traveling  expenses,  unless  by  special  agree- 
ment otherwise,  and  that,  whether  a  loss  from  the  Hotel 
Safe  occur  through  any  professional  thief,  or  Clerk  or 
other  Employe  of  the  Hotel,  or  some  of  the  Guests  who 
often  take  the  liberty  of  sitting  or  sauntering  around  be- 
hind the  counter, — or  by  a  forged  order, — or  by  a  false 
personation  of  the  owner  of  the  property  put  in  the  Safe, 
easily  made  in  the  hurry  of  business,  when  many  Guests 
are  leaving  for  some  Boat  or  Train,  as  happened  in  a 
leading  up-town  Hotel,  where  a  large  amount  of  property 
was  thus  stolen. 

All  travelers  understand  that  Securities,  Jewelry,  or 
other  similar  valuables  in  the  room  of  the  Guest  are  always 
at  the  owner's  risk,  and  what  that  risk  is,  the  frequent 
newspaper  accounts  of  Hotel  Thieves  abundantly  show. 

Country  Merchants  and  other  Strangers  in  the  City 
May  deposit  with  this  Company,  during  their  tempo- 
rary stay,  at  special  rates. 

Fire  Risk. 

Fire  Insurance  Companies  do  not  insure  against  loss 
by  fire  of  Money,  Books  of  Account,  or  Securities. 

Business  of  this  Company. 
The  Keception  of  Deposits  for  Safe-keeping 
Of  any  articles  of  value,  at  a  rate  for  Government 
Bonds  and  such  securities,  less  than  one-third  the  charge 


54: 


of  Insurance  Companies  against  Fire  alone, — in  anj 
amount  small  or  large,  and  for  any  time, — or  at  tlie  con- 
venience of  the  Depositor  without  specifying  anytime — 
thus  offering  a  special  facility  to  those  keeping  no  Bank 
account. 

The  Certificate  of  Deposit  given  contains  a  full  descrip- 
tion of  the  items  of  the  Deposit  which  is  delivered 
wholly  or  in  part,  whether  valuable  articles,  honds  or 
coupons,  whenever  and  as  often  as  called  for,  precisely 
as  deposited. 

Deposits  Under  Seal — Contents  Unknown. 

Deposits  of  Family  Plate,  S])ecie,  Securities  or  Papers 
in  boxes  or  envelopes  may  be  made  under  seal,  content& 
unknown  to  this  Company,  accessible  at  all  times  to  the 
depositor  for  withdrawal  of  any  part  or  the  whole. 

The  Company  Rents  Small  Safes 

Inside  of  its  locked  Burglar-proof  Vaults,  the  Eenter 
exclusively  keeping  the  key,  which  will  fit  no  other  Safe 
therein,  only  the  renter  having  the  right  of  access  to  it 
and  locking  and  unlocking  it,  always  identifying  liimself 
before  entering  the  vault^  and  then  being  accompanied 
by  the  Safe-keeper.  The  lock  is  changed  witli  every 
change  of  renter.  For  mutual  protection  a  responsible 
introduction  is  invariably  required  of  every  Renter. 

Each  renter  of  a  Safe  and  each  depositor  may  appoint 
a  Depidy  to  act  in  his  place  with  tlie  Company. 

How  Deposits  can  be  made. 
A  Deposit  ]nay  be  made  by  the  owner  in  person  or  by 
any  one  else  for  him,  the  Certificate  given  by  the  Com- 


55 


pany  stating  for  wliose  account  the  deposit  is  made  and 
on  wliat  terms  and  conditions  botli  as  to  whom  deliver- 
able and  the  rate.  It  may  he  made  deliverable  to  any 
one  person,  or  to  any  number  of  persons,  and  on  any 
conditions  and  terms  the  Depositor  may  dictate,  even  to 
requiring  the  presence  of  certain  persons  or  a  certain 
number  of  them ; — and  the  conditions  may  1)0  limited  to 
a  stated  time  or  to  the  life  of  the  depositor  or  of  that  of 
the  person  in  interest,  and  provision  may  be  made  how 
it  is  to  be  deliverable  in  case  of  death. 

A  MARRIED  WOMAN  may  make  a  deposit  in  her  own 
name,  deliverable  to  herself  only  or  as  she  may  direct;  or 
a  Husband  may  make  a  Deposit  for  account  of  his  Wife, 
designating  how  it  shall  be  deliverable. 

The  officers  and  employes  of  this  Company  are  pledged 
to  impart  no  information  of  its  transactions  with  its 
dealers. 

To  Whom  this  Company  may  be  Useful. 

Among  the  many  classes  whose  wants  the  Company 
meets,  may  be  named :  all  small  or  large  holders,  in 
this  city  or  elsewdiere,  of  Government  Coupon  Bonds, 
wdiich  being  transferable  by  delivery  require  the  safest 
SAFE-KEEPING ;  Hctircd  Capitalists,  desks  being  provided 
where  Cash  Boxes  may  be  opened  ;  Merchants ;  Stock, 
Exchange,  Bill  and  Money  Brokers ;  Manufacturers, 
Mechanics,  Tradesmen,  Clergymen,  Physicians,  and  other 
business  and  professional  men  ;  Families,  Widows,  and 
Single  Women,  for  Family  Plate,  Jewelry,  Family  Belies 
or  Souvenirs.  Securities,  or  Papers  of  Yalue ;  the  large 
class  of  thrifty  j^ersons  whose  surroundings  are  unfavorable 
to  the  safe-keeping  of  Valuables;   Lawyers  and  their 


56 


Clients,  whose  papers  in  a  suit,  if  lost  by  fire  might  not 
be  replaceable ;  Officers  of  the  Army  or  Navy,  Masters 
of  Vessels,  or  others  much  from  home ;  Consignees  of 
Specie  or  Bullion,  and  dealers  therein  or  in  Diamonds ; 
Insurance,  "Railroad,  Petroleum,  Manufacturing,  Mining, 
and  other  Corporations  or  Companies ;  Colleges,  Acade- 
mies, Lodges,  and  other  Literary,  Benevolent,  Social  or 
Religious  Institutions  with  Securities  or  papers  of  value; 
Railroad  Companies  holding  their  own  Bonds  executed 
and  waiting  a  market  here ;  Banks  and  Bankers  out  of 
the  City,  for  Gold  or  Securities,  or  whose  officers  may 
visit  here,  or  for  the  lodgment  of  their  Securities  here  for 
negotiation,  either  in  a  rented  Safe  or  specially  deposited; 
persons  having  no  Bank  account,  for  Bank  Bills  or  Specie 
temporarily  ;  or  for  funds  held  for  a  short  time  for  others ; 
persons  going  abroad  or  to  California,  or  temporarily  from 
home ;  persons  at  board ;  Foreigners  transiently  in  the 
city  with  Money,  Jewelry,  Securities,  or  valuable  Papers ; 
Country  Merchants  visiting  the  city ;  persons  within  a 
few  railroad  hours  from  the  city,  and  having  business 
therein  but  no  office ;  Americans  residing  abroad,  who 
may  leave  their  Securities  here,  the  interest  to  be  collected 
and  remitted ;  Executors,  Guardians  or  Trustees  of  In- 
solvent or  other  Estates ;  holders  of  valuable  Papers  or 
articles  for  Minor  Children,  or  as  a  third  party  delivery 
contingent;  niembers  of  firms,  for  their  private  business; 
claimants  against  Government,  holders  of  Records,  Ac- 
count Books,  valuable  Papers,  &c.,  not  in  current  use,  as 
Railroads,  Petroleum  Companies,  Manufacturing,  Mining 
and  other  Corporations,  Firms  existent  or  dissolved,  ; 
Churches,  for  Communion  Plate,  duplicate  Marriage 
Records,  &c. :  holders  of  Notes  of  Hand,  of  Vouchers  of 


57 


Public  or  Private  Trusts,  or  of  Public  or  Private  Testi- 
monials, Deeds  of  Property  or  Trusts,  Mortgages,  Con- 
tracts, Powers  of  Attorney,  Articles  of  Copartnership, 
Dissolution,  or  Assignment ;  Releases  of  Indebtedness, 
Legal  Awards,  Patent  Papers,  Surveyors'  or  Architec- 
tural Drawings,  and  Abstracts  of  Title,  especially  of 
country  property  w^here  the  Record  Office  may  not  be 
fire-proof,  or  of  Policies  of  Life,  Fire  or  Marine  Insur- 
ance, Savings  Bank  Books,  Evidences  of  Marriage,  Birth 
or  Death,  valuable  Letters,  Manuscripts,  or  Papers  to  be 
opened  after  the  death  of  the  writer,  collections  of  Coins, 
Copper  Plates,  Family  Portraits,  Paintings  out  of  frame, 
Bronzes,  Engravings,  costly  Laces,  Shawls,  &c.,  &c. 

Our  great  difficulty  is  to'  reach  tlie  people  with  the 
information  of  the  existence  of  such  a  Company  and  its 
uses;  and  then  to  impress  eacli  individual  needing  it  with 
its  necessity  to  him  or  herself,  so  as  to  induce  prompt 
action. 

But  perhaps  this  business,  like  Life  Insurance  in  its 
early  history,  must  find  its  way  gradually  to  public 
appreciation  and  custom,  and  if  the  business  comes 
slowly,  our  Stockholders  must  console  themselves  w4th 
the  hox^e  that  it  will  nevertheless  ultimately  come  surely. 

Procrastination, 

in  very  many  who  know  of  the  existence  of  this  Com- 
pany and  appreciate  its  advantages,  is  one  of  the  chief 
obstacles  we  have  to  contend  with.  They  wait  for  a 
convenient  season  to  secure  their  securities. 


58 


As  the  business  of  an  Institution  of  this  nature,  al- 
though of  acknowledged  usefulness,  must  depend  much 
upon  personal  mention  and  recommendation,  we  feel 
authorized  to  ask  of  all  satisfied  of  its  usefulness  to  call 
attention  on  every  suitable  opportunity  to  its  objects, 
convenience,  management  and  absolute  security,  until 
none  who  need  it  will  neglect  to  use  its  advantages. 

We  have  yet  a  number  of  Safes  unrented  and  in  our 
new  Vaults  ample  room  to  meet  any  demand,  while  our 
capacity  for  Special  Deposits  is  unlimited. 

We  shall  be  glad  to  furnish  our  Circulars  and  other 
advertising  appliances  to  all  disposed  to  respond  to  our 
above  recpicst. 

There  is  hardly  a  reader  of  this  to  wdiom  this  Institu- 
tion may  not  in  some  form  he  of  use, — or  who  has  not 
some  friend  to  whom  a  mention  of  it  would  be  of 
advantage. 

The  List  on  a  preceding  page  of  "  To  whom  it  may 
be  useful"  will  doubtless  bring  to  mind  some  person  that 
you  can  serve  by  its  mention. 

AVe  must  in  this  as  in  all  other  good  works,  look 
to  W'lVES,  SISTERS  and  mothers  to  see  that  those  who 
have  Securities,  surplus  Plate  or  Jewelry,  a  Will,  or 
important  Papers,  are  effectually  urged  promptly  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  Safety  this  Company  offers. 


FKANCIS  H.  JENKS, 

President 


59 


GUARANTEE  EATES. 


FOR  ONE  YEAR. 


Government  and  all  other  Coupon  Securities,  or  ^ 

those  transferable  by  delivery,  including  Bank  I  $1  00  per  91,000 
Bills,  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent.,  or    .     .      .  j 

Government  and  all  other  Securities  negotiable  "j 

only  by  endorsement,  one-twentieth  of  one  per  I  50  "  1,000 
cent.,  or       .        .        .       .        .       .        .  j 


Gold  Coin  or  Bullion,  one-eighth  of  one  per }  c,- 
cent.,  or       .        .        .       .        .        .  ^ 


Jewelry,  Diamonds,  Watches,  one-quarter  of  one 
per  cent.,  or        .....  . 


9 


1,000 


Silver  Coin   or  Bullion,    one-fifth  of  one  per  "I      <^  1000 
cent.,  or       .......  j  ' 


50    "  1,000 


Silver  Plate  under  Seal,  one  per  cent.,  on  the  ] 
owner's  estimate  of  full  value,  subject  to  ad-  I      1  00    "  100 
justment  according  to  bulk     .       .  .  J 


Deeds,  Mortgages,  Valuable  Papers  generally,  when  of  no  fixed  value, 
$1.00  a  year  each,  or  according  to  bulk. 

Wills,  $5.00,  which  premium  covers  the  remainder  of  the  life  of  the 
maker,  or  $1  for  one  year. 

Cash  Boxes,  or  small  Tin  Trunks  for  papers  of  Bankers,  Capitalists, 
Merchants,  Lawyers,  Tradesmen,  Families,  &c.,  will  be  received  at 
$25.00  each  box  or  trunk  per  year,  contents  unknown  to  the  Company. 


RENTAL  OF  SAFES. 

The  Company  offers  for  rent,  Renter  exclusively  holding  the  key. 
Safes  inside  its  Burglar-proof  Vaults,  at  15,  20,  25,  30,  35,  40,  45, 
60,  CO,  75  dollars  each,  per  annum,  according  to  size  and  location. 


Coupons  and  Interest  will  be  collected  when  desired,  and  remitted 
to  the  owner. 


FOR  LADIES 

A  private  room  with  separate  convenient  desks  is  provided. 


DIRECTORS 

OF 

THE  SAFE  DEPOSIT  CO.  OF  NEW  YORK. 

CHARTERED  APRIL,  1861. 

HENRY  A.  SWIFT, 

of  Swift  &  Spedding,  85  Franklin  Street. 
COURTLANDT  PALMER, 

1  Barclay  Street. 
Hon.  JAS.  R.  WHITING, 

299  Mulberry  Street. 

ALEX  HOLLAND, 

Treasurer  American  Express  Company. 
DAVID  OGDEN, 

63  Wall  Street. 
CHAS.  L.  TIFFANY, 

Tiffany  &  Co.,  550  Broadway. 

JACOB  RUSSELL, 

Cashier  N.  Y.  Gold  Exchange  Bank. 
A.  D.  HOPE, 

Pres't  First  National  Bank  of  Somerville,  N.  J., 

103  Liberty  Street,  N.  Y. 
I.  C.  BABCOCK, 

Cashier  Adams  Express  Co. 

W.  C.  SHELDON, 

Buckley,  Sheldon  &  Co.,  75  Leonard  Street. 
JOSEPH  J.  BICKNELL, 

191  Broadway. 

S.  D.  MILLS, 

7  Jauncey  Court,  N.  Y. 

FRANCIS  H.  JENKS. 

FRANCIS  H.  JENKS, 

I*resident. 

FREDERICK  FOSTER, 

Secretary 

The  Charter  confines  the  business  of  the  Company  to  the  Safe-keep- 
ing of  Valuables,  and  imposes  a  personal  liability  upon  the  Stock- 
holders, to  an  amount  equal  and  additional  to  the  Stock  held. 

Office  Hours — From  9  o'clock  A  M.  to  4  o'clock  P.  M. 

The  premises  will  be  shown  to  Visitors  should  curiosity  or  interest 
induce  a  desire  to  see  them. 

Circulars  will  be  forwarded  on  request. 


